QUESTION: What do you think Cardinals GM John Mozeliak’s top priorities will be at next week’s Winter Meetings?

JOE STRAUSS
At the very least the Cardinals need to establish a tight timeline for when Matt Holliday will reach a decision about his return or exit from St. Louis. The Cardinals are at least temporarily handcuffed, maybe even paralyzed, until they know Holliday’s intentions. One would expect that the Cardinals will not leave Indianapolis before making a contract offer for the left fielder.

JEFF GORDON
Mozeliak needs to add a good-hitting left fielder one way or another. If he can’t keep one of his free agents (Matt Holliday or Mark DeRosa) or sign another one, then he’ll have to trade for this commodity. Failure is not an option on this front. Given the depth of pitching available on the market, he won’t necessarily have to trade to round out his rotation and bullpen. There is plenty to choose from. In the outfield, the pickings are slimmer.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
Obviously getting a read on what Matt Holliday is thinking would be priority number one. If he’s nowhere near ready to make a decision I think Mo should move on to “Plan B” so as to not be strung along by Holliday and his agent, Scott Boras. Remember a few years back when Carlos Beltran took the Astros for a ride throughout the offseason, dragging things on and leaving them holding an empty bag when he signed with the Mets? The Cardinals can’t allow that to happen with the Holliday situation.

If they move on from Holliday, which is obviously not a certainty, the priority becomes the combination of a lesser bat and a veteran starting pitcher to slot into the 3rd or 4th spot in the rotation. Ideally that bat would come in the form of an outfielder, though a proven bat for third base could be a fallback option. Unless they’re signing Holliday or Jason Bay the Cards should look for a short-term answer in the outfield — unless the trade market presents an option we’ve not heard discussed yet.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: The free agency doors have now busted open completely and teams are free to talk dollars and cents with all free agents. Matt Holliday’s agent, Scott Boras, has talked about seeking a Mark Teixeira-type deal (8 years, $180 million) for his client. At the end of the day, regardless of where he ends up, what kind of a contract do you see Holliday getting in terms of years and dollars?

DERRICK GOOLD
It’s no surprise that Boras would set a high bar for the opening bid on his biggest client this season. It’s just doubtful that the market will reach that level, especially when Mark Teixeira played a different (read: less populated) position and found himself in a cash-o-war between baseball’s biggest (spending) rivals, the Yankees and Red Sox. Boras should hope such a situation develops for Holliday. In the meantime, the Alfonso Soriano deal looks like a more likely indicator. Soriano got eight years; Holliday seems tailored for six (with maybe an option and possibly a walk-away in the middle, ala Alex Rodriguez). Soriano’s salary averages $17 million over the life of the contract. Seems realistic to target Holliday, a much better overall hitter than Soriano, for $18 million or slightly more. That fits Holliday for a deal of about six years, $105 million to $120 million. But truly the offer will be whatever the market commands, and right now the Cardinals appear to be the team most interested and most willing to meet the price.

BERNIE MIKLASZ
Unless there’s a surprise, and there is always that possibility, Boras won’t be able to exploit a depressed market for the kind of fantasy deal he envisions. Instead of Teixeira money, he may be more in line for Alfonso Soriano money. And even that’s questionable, considering this is a weak free-agent class, with Holliday being the best of the lot. That said, it only takes one wacko owner or GM to be seduced by Boras.

JEFF GORDON
I believe Boras really wants to top Alfonso Soriano and get his guy about $140 million over eight years. At the moment, the market for that sort of deal doesn’t appear to be there. The Angels don’t like dealing with Boras, so that team appears headed in a different direction. Boras can only hope that Jason Bay gets a big offer from, say, Seattle — thus forcing Boston to buck up for Holliday. I’ll take a wild guess and say that Holliday gets six years and $105 million from somebody.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
Six years, $110 million with a couple of mutual options tagged on at the end and big buyouts attached to each. Those options would make the total potential payout roughly $150 million over 8 years. That’s just a hair over $18 million per season which would make Holliday the second-highest paid outfielder in MLB behind Manny Ramirez and just ahead of Torii Hunter, Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells. He’s certainly a better player than Wells and can impact a game like Hunter and Suzuki, albeit in a different way. If the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets are all legitimately involved (not just “interested”) in talks, that number could certainly be a bit higher. But I don’t think he gets quite to the Teixeira level no matter who signs him.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Matt Holliday’s agent Scott Boras was quoted in a Post-Dispatch story Wednesday talking about the Cardinals, saying, “If you’re drawing 3.3 million fans and you’re averaging $50 a fan coming in, I just don’t know that mid-market term.” Is Boras correct in his implication that due to the revenue generated by high attendance numbers year after year that the Cardinals should not be considered a mid-market club? Do you feel the team uses “mid-market” status as an excuse to keep the payroll lower than it is actually capable of paying?

BERNIE MIKLASZ
Scott Boras has a simple job: to pimp for his client and get the most money possible. And he’s criticizing ownership in St. Louis to put pressure on the Cardinals to pony up for his guy. It’s a negotiating tactic. Nothing more, nothing less. Boras is hoping that Bill DeWitt freaks out and offers a blank check to Holliday. It won’t happen. DeWitt is many things, but the last time I looked, he seemed to be rather smart, and he’s also sane. That isn’t what Boras wants. The agent’s success is based on finding the one or two completely crazy owners out there who will rush in, lose their heads and anxiously capitulate to his demands. That’s why Boras is so terrific at his job. He usually gets the kooks to overreact.

DERRICK GOOLD
Mid-market has become a shield as much as a designation for many baseball teams. Some can cower behind the protection of that “mid-market” designation and pocket additional profit while weeping over an inability to keep or sign top-flight players. St. Louis certainly cuts the image of a mid-market city. Its media size is mid-range. Its population is mid-size. Its Fortune 500 footprint falls behind Chicago and Houston in the NL Central Division. So on. So on.

So St. Louis is a mid-market city, but the St. Louis Cardinals are not a mid-market baseball club, and nor do they operate like one. Their fanbase defies the mid-market label. Go beyond the 3 million that Scott Boras cited and consider the merchandising that comes with being one of the most recognizable brands in baseball. Or, think of the broadcast fees the Cardinals command because of the sheer geography of their fandom. It’s Cardinals Nation, not Cardinals Suburb. Boras is correct.

All of that allows the Cardinals to operate with a payroll bigger than their market. There is a symbiotic relationship between attendance and fanbase spending and the club’s payroll. With one ranking high within baseball, so should the other, and vice versa. The Cardinals acknowledge that, and they should be held to that.

RICK HUMMEL
The Cardinals, while certainly mid-market as far as metropilitan area population, are higher than that because of their 3,000,000 attendance every year. However, they don’t have nearly the broadcast revenue of the New Yorks, Bostons, Los Angeles teams and the Chicago teams. Therein lies the major issue in their trying to bid with those teams for free-agent players.

JEFF GORDON
When you factor in media revenue — a huge piece of the puzzle — the Cards are an upper mid-level team. They are well behind the LA teams, the NY teams, Boston and the Chicago Cubs. They are in that next group and that is pretty much how the franchise spends. The Cards will outspend teams like Cincinnati, Atlanta, Cleveland for years to come. This means the team can afford to pay Albert Pujols the going rate . . . but it also means the Cards can’t go deep in the Matt Holliday sweepstakes.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
According to Forbes Magazine the Cardinals are 7th in terms of franchise value, a number Boras also cited yesterday, though incorrectly using that ranking for revenue rather than franchise value. Forbes ranked the Cardinals 10th in total revenue for the 2008 season (too early for ’09 numbers to be considered) and they were 12th for 2007.

Based on those rankings, I’d have to say the “mid-market” label is misleading. The Cardinals generate more revenue than teams in much bigger markets, like Houston and Dallas, and the size of the media market isn’t as important as how much money comes in.

Their payroll ranking is generally right where their revenue ranking is. The Cardinals had the 11th highest payroll in baseball in 2006, 2007 and 2008. They were 6th if you go back as far as 2005 and they were 13th in 2009 because they adjusted their season-opening payroll over concerns about the economy. Then they added significant salaries like Mark DeRosa and Holliday as the season went on. They could afford to expand the payroll, I have no doubt about that, but it’s not like they’re pulling a fast one on the fans.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: What do you feel should be the Cardinals top priority this offseason?

JOE STRAUSS
Obviously, getting a handle on Matt Holliday’s situation is significant because of what signing him would do to the club’s financial flexibility. Likewise, losing him to free agency frees up significant money to pursue another direction. Holliday is Scott Boras’ leading free agent this winter. Boras typically leaves his top client on the market for an extended period. This tendency does not square with the Cardinals’ desire for a quick resolution. If Holliday reaches the open market, the Cardinals’ task in signing him becomes exponentially more difficult, so much so that Jason Bay’s name now freely floats within the organization. The team’s late-season meltdown against “plus” pitching underscores the need for further improvement.

DERRICK GOOLD
This very public eagerness to work on an extension with Albert Pujols strikes me as a non-traditional strategy, especially with two years remaining on his contract and his leverage likely never better with a second consecutive MVP on the way. It makes sense to do eventually, but why the push to do it now? Unless they want to do something in concert to make sure when they add a new player Pujols is still the highest-paid player . . . hmm. Simply, the priority should be outfitting the lineup around Pujols, Mr. I Want to Stay With a Contender, and to do that with the best bat that fits — the team’s finances, the team’s structure and the team’s approach, all of it. That still is Matt Holliday. Linking his best years to Pujols’ best years is in everyone’s interest.

RICK HUMMEL
The top priority is to explore the prospect of re-signing OF Matt Holliday to a long-term deal. If not, I would offer him arbitration (to make sure of getting two draft picks) and he might even accept that if there isn’t a long-term deal he likes anywhere.

JEFF GORDON
Top priority: Lock-up Albert Pujols for the long haul. Once that is done, the cornerstone is secured and all the other decisions will fall into place. The other matters are minor compared to this one. If he can’t be secured during this offseason, for whatever reason, then the need to re-sign Matt Holliday increases — since this team will need somebody to build a batting order around from 2012 on.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
Bringing back the manager and the pitching coach would be at the top of my list. I’m not sure Matt Holliday is worth what the market will bear, so I wouldn’t rate him No. 1. Plus the team has kids like Allen Craig and Jon Jay who may prove worthy of an opportunity to do in 2010 what Colby Rasmus did in 2009. In fact, I’m almost leaning toward letting all the kids battle for the open roster spots early in the year and then dealing for veterans, if necessary, come June or July. I think what the team did this year worked quite well and I’d follow that pattern again just in case guys like Craig, Jay, David Freese, Jaime Garcia, Blake Hawksworth and Mitchell Boggs have breakthroughs. Spend the money to get Albert re-signed and then deal for veterans in-season, if necessary.

THE WATERCOOLER

THE SHOWDOWN: Break down this Sunday’s Missouri-Kansas matchup in Lawrence and tell us who wins and why.

BERNIE MIKLASZ
This will be a difficult setting for the Mizzou Tigers. The team is obviously playing with a lot of confidence these days, and that will help the cause. This should be a terrific game: a renewal of a wonderful rivalry that will showcase two ascending teams. I have to give the edge to KU. The Jayhawks haven’t lost at home in a long time, and Allen Fieldhouse is one of the most imposing and impressive settings in college basketball. The young Tigers are almost ready to snatch a game at KU, but not quite yet. The Jayhawks should have won in Columbia but discovered that this was a different kind of Mizzou team: one that won’t back down. It’s almost as if KU, accustomed to so many recent surrenders by MU basketball, was caught off guard by Mizzou’s resilient comeback. I don’t think that will happen this time. Kansas won’t be surprised by MU’s aggression. And KU’s floor leader, Sherron Collins, will finish strong. He faded down the stretch in the first encounter.
FINAL SCORE: Kansas 82, Missouri 76.

JEFF GORDON
Missouri is rolling. The Tigers have 11 guys playing with confidence. Their kids aren’t kids anymore. It’s easy to build a scenario where they upset the Jayhawks on the road. If they take care of the basketball and hit their shots, they can use their superior depth to beat anybody anywhere. But . . . Bill Self is a great coach, KU will be jacked up at home and the Jayhawks will hit their shots this time. The Jayhawks had a chance to blow the Tigers off the court in Columbia and they blew their opportunity. Sunday, the shots go down.
FINAL SCORE: Kansas 91, Missouri 84

VAHE GREGORIAN
The game figures to have a totally different complexion than the first. The Jayhawks won’t commit 27 turnovers again, the Tigers won’t be held to 16 points in the first half and MU also won’t be able to overcome repeated double-digit deficits again. If KU gets up big early, the Tigers will keep playing but KU will stiffarm them away and win comfortably. If MU keeps it close in the first half, the ending should be similar to the sizzling one in Columbia. I think the Tigers are too good at this stage to let it get out of control and should be another great game.
FINAL SCORE: Kansas 73, Missouri 70

DAN O’NEILL
It’s an interesting game to analyze based on the crazy last meeting, which Missouri won 62-60 at Mizzou Arena. On one hand, Missouri was fortunate to win at home, benefiting from a late Kansas meltdown. On the other hand, Missouri won despite playing poorly for two-thirds of the game. Soooo … if the Tigers play well from the get-go this time, what happens? Here are some factors:

• Good start: Hard to believe the Tigers won last time after scoring just 16 points in the first half — they trailed 30-16. Hard to believe they could have a similar start this time and still be in the building for the second half.

• Missouri’s defense: It caused 27 Kansas turnovers in the last meeting, and it will have to be at its chaos-creating best to disrupt the Jayhawks and quiet the Allen Fieldhouse crowd. Missouri had 13 steals in the last game, they will need at least that many this time.

• 3-point shooting: MU leads the Big 12 in 3-point shooting defense, and that will be important. Like many teams, KU tends to struggle offensively without 3-point injections. The Jayhawks were just 2 of 15 from the arch last time. Meanwhile, Missouri was 2 of 14, and it must do better, must get Matt Lawrence (0 for 2) more involved.

• Rebounding: Missouri was outrebounded 48-28 last time — yikes! A lot of that had to do with shooting the ball poorly. The Tigers were 7 of 29 from the field during the first half in the last game.
• Free Throws: The first meeting, Mizzou was 1 for 4 from the line in the first half, 17 of 23 in the second. The Tigers have to hope DeMarre Carroll can wear out a path to the line this time.

• Sherron Collins: KU’s excellent guard is coming off a 26-point performance against Oklahoma and is fourth in the Big 12 in scoring average (18.3). Hear that J.T. Tiller? That’s your man.

Both teams have momentum, with KU coming off a big win at Oklahoma and Missouri riding a seven-game streak. But winning at Kansas will be a tall order for the Tigers.
FINAL SCORE: Kansas 87, Missouri 79

TOM TIMMERMANN
First off, show of hands: How many people expected the Mizzou basketball team to be ranked higher than the football team? Mizzou won the last meeting because Kansas came apart down the stretch, and still, if one or two iffy calls had gone the other way, the Jayhawks would have won in Columbia. KU, no doubt rattled by what the Tigers threw at them, committed gobs of turnovers. They’ll be better composed in Lawrence. If KU hangs on to the ball, that will be a major difference.

Normally, I say pick against the team coming off a big win, like KU’s at No. 3 Oklahoma. But, 1) almost a week has passed since that game; 2) Oklahoma didn’t have Blake Griffin, so that takes some of the luster off the win; and 3) what the Jayhawks have been hearing around campus all week hasn’t been, “good job against Oklahoma,” it’s been, “Beat Missouri.” I think Sherron Collins will do better than the 9 points he had last time and Tyshawn Taylor will do better than his 11.
FINAL SCORE: Kansas 64, Missouri 56

KATHLEEN NELSON
Two factors work against Missouri. The Tigers will need a more consistent performance than the spotty effort they mustered in beating the Jayhawks in Columbia. In addition, KU’s tough at home.
FINAL SCORE: Kansas 82, Missouri 78

MIKE SMITH
Coach Self will sell this one to his players as being the equivalent of a national championship game. Feeding off the fan frenzy, the Jayhawks will respond accordingly. And if I’m Self, or any other coach with a physical post man like Aldrich, I pound it inside against Mizzou for 40 minutes. Lyons will back off soon as he sees that’s the strategy, saddling Carroll with the impossible task of singlehandedly stopping the inside game. Translation: He’ll foul out.
FINAL SCORE: Kansas 69, Missouri 57.

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

MANNY REJECTS TWO-YEAR, $45 MILLION OFFER: You saw my thoughts yesterday that Manny Ramirez would be crazy to turn down the Dodgers offer. Still, it appears his agent Scott Boras has done just that. And I’m not the only one who thinks he’s nuts. Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times writes today: “This week, by every stretch of the wildest imagination, the Dodgers made Manny Ramirez a no-lose proposition. By rejecting it Thursday, Ramirez has officially lost it. He’s lost his dignity. He’s lost his perspective. He’s lost his marbles.”

Plaschke also has some pointed words for Boras. You should check out his column today.

REDSKINS AT IT AGAIN: Redskins owner Dan Snyder desperately wants to win. He just hasn’t figured out yet that throwing money around isn’t always the way to get it done (See: New York Yankees.) Still, Snyder pulled out the wallet Thursday night and kept it out until the wee hours Friday in an attempt to build a winner in Washington.

First, Snyder ponied up a six-year, $54 million deal ($22.5 million guaranteed) to retain DeAngelo Hall. The deal made Hall one of the league’s highest paid cornerbacks. But at that point Snyder was just getting started, because as soon as free agency opened around midnight, he signed DT Albert Haynesworth to a seven-year, $100 million deal ($41 million guaranteed.)

It’s not Snyder spending money that I find surprising … it’s just how he spent it. Hall was actually cut by the Raiders last season after eight games. Cut. By the Raiders. He ended up with Washington and finished the season on a high note. But a $54 million high note? I don’t know. As to Haynesworth hitting the free-agent jackpot … I know he was one of the most coveted free agents on the market this year, but do you really spend $100 million on an interior defensive lineman?

Snyder has swung and missed on many big-name free agents in the past, but who knows, maybe this is the year he gets it right. Time will tell if it was money well spent.

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SOMETHING TO PONDER

WEDNESDAY ROUND 2 REDUX:
WILL TKACHUK BE A HALL OF FAMER?

My friend Kevin Wheeler, who hosts “Sports Open Line” on KMOX, stated his case earlier this week in this space for why he thought St. Louis Blues forward Keith Tkachuk is unquestionably a Hall of Famer. Not everyone agreed. In the spirit of debate, Kevin went back to work and offers up the following to support his case:

FROM KEVIN: After giving this subject a little more thought, because I’m a sports guy and that’s what I do, I decided to do a little more research on the subject of Keith Tkachuk and the Hall of Fame. The raw numbers I presented in Wednesday’s Round Two were pretty compelling, but what I found when I dug a little deeper was even better.

With a little extra time on my hands I sat down and compared Tkachuk to Hall of Famers Glenn Anderson, Bernie Federko, Dale Hawerchuk, Joe Mullen and Peter Stastny. What I looked at was the number of goals each scored per game compared to the number of goals scored per game overall in the NHL during their respective careers.

Even the least-experienced hockey fans recognize the fact that offense in the NHL is not what it used to be. Goals are harder than ever to come by, even after a bunch of rules changes, but I don’t think people truly understand how much scoring has decreased over the last 15 years.

Here’s how Tkachuk’s goals per game rate stacks up against the aforementioned Hall of Famers:

Goals per game
Tkachuk - 0.47
Anderson - 0.44
Hawerchuk - 0.44
Federko - 0.37
Mullen - 0.47
Stastny - 0.46

Tkachuk scores more per game than anyone on that list except Mullen, which kind of surprised me. Even in an era where fewer goals are being scored on a nightly basis, Walt’s scoring rate compares favorably with five guys who were no-brainers for the Hall.

I also looked the points per game rate:

Points per game
Tkachuk - 0.93
Anderson - 0.97
Hawerchuk - 1.19
Federko - 1.13
Mullen - 1.00
Stastny - 1.27

He’s at the bottom of the barrel here but within a whisker of Anderson and Mullen.

The numbers below signify the average goals scored per game in the NHL from the first year each player stepped into the league until the day they retired.

Total goals scored per game
Tkachuk era - 5.51
Anderson era - 7.28
Hawerchuk era - 7.25
Federko era - 7.48
Mullen era - 7.17
Stastny era - 7.35

In other words, there were roughly 25% more goals scored during the careers of the five Hall of Famers than there were during Tkachuk’s career.

Tkachuk has played in the NHL equivalent of baseball’s “Dead Ball Era” yet he still scores goals at the same rate as Hall of Famers who played in the high-flying offensive years.

Voters may or may not consider these kinds of facts when the time comes, preferring to fall back on lazy critiques that are more about the teams Tkachuk has played for than on what he’s accomplished as an individual, but they should at least do the amount of digging I was able to do between the 2nd and 3rd period of the Blues-Stars game Thursday night.

Nothing can “prove” that Tkachuk will he in the Hall someday because voters are human and humans can be a little goofy, but I think his case is outstanding even if has yet to play for a team good enough to win the Stanley Cup.

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STAT OF THE DAY

548 — Most career homers hit by a player who played his entire career for only one franchise. Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt leads the list. Here’s the top 20, along with their HR totals and the team they played for:

1. Mike Schmidt, 548, PHI
2. Mickey Mantle, 536, NYY
3. Ted Williams, 521, BOS
4, Ernie Banks, 512, CHC
5. Mel Ott, 511, NYG
6. Lou Gehrig, 493, NYY
7. Willie Stargell, 475, PIT
8. STAN MUSIAL, 475, STL
9. Carl Yastrzemski, 452, BOS
10. Jeff Bagwell, 449, HOU
11. Cal Ripken, 431, BAL
12. Chipper Jones, 408, ATL
13. Al Kaline, 399, DET
14. Johnny Bench, 389, CIN
15. Jim Rice, 382, BOS
16. Joe DiMaggio, 361, NYY
17. ALBERT PUJOLS, 319, STL
18. George Brett, 317, KC
19. Todd Helton, 310, COL
20. Edgar Martinez, 309, SEA

(SOURCE: Baseballreference.com)

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Does the Rams’ release of wide receiver Drew Bennett have any impact on whether or not Torry Holt is back with the team next season, or do you think this just means the team will seek a WR earlier in the draft or try to target a veteran in free agency?

JIM THOMAS
Absolutely none. Even had he stayed, Bennett would have had to prove himself all over again in St. Louis. Similarly, Bennett’s release won’t really have much of an impact on what the Rams do draft-wise or free agent-wise with the position.

BILL COATS
I don’t think it affects Holt’s status, because the Rams saved virtually nothing in the salary cap by releasing Bennett. Still, the team is going to have to round up some wide receivers in the next few months, via free agency, the draft or otherwise. Right now, they’re very young and very slim at that position.

BRYAN BURWELL
The release of Drew Bennett is totally independent of what the Rams front office plans to do with Torry Holt. One (Bennett) was a totally unproductive mistake of free agency who never proved to be an effective weapon or leader for this struggling offense. Cutting him shows that GM Billy Devaney and head coach Steve Spagnuolo won’t waste much time keeping anyone who can’t help this franchise win. The decision on Holt — and by extension Orlando Pace — will come down to only one thing: Can they still help win ball games? That’s exactly how the decision should be made.

KATHLEEN NELSON
I think Bennett’s departure has no effect on Holt’s future, if what our own Jim Thomas reported a few days ago remains true about Holt being unwilling to restructure his deal. I also agree with Jim that the Rams might feel that after delivering seven Pro Bowl seasons, Holt deserves another shot — soon — at glory. That’s more likely to happen elsewhere. Free agents Laveranues Coles and T.J. Houshmanzadeh might be worth talking to, since the Rams could use a veteran, steadying hand at receiver, but the cupboard is pretty bare after those two.

TOM ACKERMAN (Sports anchor on “Total Information A.M.” on KMOX)
If Holt doesn’t restructure his contract, I don’t see how he stays in St. Louis. Torry still has some good football left in him, but that’s a hefty price tag for the Rams if he isn’t their No. 1 receiving option anymore. The offense will revolve around Steven Jackson, anyway, so the offensive line is a priority. The Rams need a defensive identity, too, and that will require money. Second-year wideouts Donnie Avery and Keenan Burton are intriguing, but they need a veteran on the roster. I wish there was a way to keep Holt around, but I envision the Rams searching for a free-agent veteran WR at a lesser price.

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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS

IT’S MANNY’S WORLD: And apparently he’s just sharing it with the rest of us. Poor Manny Ramirez, the player without a team. Remember a few weeks back when Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols was lobbying for Manny to join the Cardinals because his out-of-work friend said no teams wanted him? Poppycock.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers have reapproached Ramirez with a new offer: a two-year deal that would pay Ramirez $25 million this season and a player option at $20 million next season. That means Ramirez can “choose” whether or not to accept the $20 million next year. But at this point Ramirez has not accepted the deal and it’s reported his agent Scott Boras is still in “negotiations” with the Dodgers on the contract.

Negotiations? What exactly more does Ramirez want? Unquestionably he’s been one of the game’s bigger sluggers over the years (when, that is, he actually feels like playing.) But what more is he looking for? Does Ramirez and Boras think the Dodgers should pony up for a four- or five-year deal for an outfielder (I use the term loosely) who’s going to turn 37 in May?

I’ve always kind of enjoyed sitting back and watching the theatrics that come along with Manny being Manny, but the excess and largesse surrounding this whole offseason with Ramirez is just too much. If he does sign the deal with the Dodgers, it’s only a matter of time until Ramirez finds something else to pout about and holds the team hostage to his demands. Look around, Manny, you ain’t got it so bad.

MANNY, PART DEUX: The satirical online magazine The Onion reports today that agent Scott Boras was able to get Manny $20 billion in economic stimulus funds from the U.S. government. Oh, and there are incentives. Check it out.

SOMETHING TO PONDER

FREE AGENCY AWAITS: The NFL free agency period opens at midnight tonight. You’re likely to see a lot of movement around the league this year. Make sure you check out Jim Thomas’ report in the Post-Dispatch tomorrow morning where he breaks down not only the Rams’ needs in free agency, but also highlights the top five free agents at every position.

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STAT OF THE DAY

41 years — Before Wednesday night, that’s how long it had been since Northwestern University men’s basketball team had beaten Indiana at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Wildcats had been 0-33 in Bloomington since their last victory there in 1968.