In the Great Salary Correction of 2009, many prominent outfielders are still looking for work.

Slugger Adam Dunn, future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., Bobby Abreu and Garret Anderson are still awaiting suitable offers.

And then there is Manny Ramirez, doing his slow dance with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has rejected offers of $45 million for two years and $25 million for one year, holding out for longer-term deals.

His agent, Scott Boras, has chastised the Dodgers for setting deadlines. “What I do know, you better watch out when you’re playing chicken,” Boras told Yahoo! Sports.

If the Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti decides to call Boras’ bluff, he could spend his money on Dunn, Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudson instead and upgrade both his lineup and pitching rotation.

So what would become of ManRam then?

His best fallback option would be the rebuilding Giants. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com explained how that would play out:

“Ramirez, hitting in the middle of the Giants’ weak lineup, might never see a strike. Barry Bonds, surrounded by better hitters, rarely did in his latter seasons in San Francisco Just picture Ramirez taking walk after walk while playing in chilly temperatures in a pitcher-friendly park at a salary far below what he desires.”

It would take about two weeks for Ramirez to sour on that scene and create havoc. You will recall that his tenure in Boston ended badly, with altercations with the team’s traveling secretary and teammate Kevin Youkilis. He found happiness, briefly, playing in LA for Joe Torre.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering if Mike Anderson’s basketball program finally turned the corner Wednesday night in Austin:

• Wasn’t it great to see the Tigers slow down, when necessary, and get easy baskets off their halfcourt offense?
• Since when is Zaire Taylor a take-over offensive player for this team?
• A conference road victory over a nationally ranked team . . . how often have we’ve seen that during since the early Quin Snyder days?

SPEAKING OF QUIN SNYDER

He is coach of the Austin Toros of the NBA D-League, guiding the San Antonio Spurs farm team. And Snyder is doing well, as evidenced by his selection to coach in the D-League All-Star Game Feb. 14.

It’s not the Final Four, but, hey, he is still in the sport – floppy hair and all. This grainy footage from his Mizzou days reminds us of his motivational genius:

Yikes!

And as for Anderson, Should Mizzou fans fret about the SEC teams wooing their coach now that he has the Tigers are moving toward a NCAA Tournament berth?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Elliott Harris, Chicago Sun-Times: “Ex-New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor reportedly will be on the new season of ABC’s ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ He would’ve been on an earlier version, but they had to teach him not to tackle the competition.”

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: “Great quote from NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick: ‘We’re not adjusting to the downfall of our sport. We’re adjusting to a downfall in the world.’”

Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Just wondering: Is the water in Michael Phelps’ bong chlorinated?”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoTribune.com: “Bobby Knight will never run out of regions to alienate.”

Tim Keown, ESPN.com: “Down 23-20 in the final minute, the Steelers didn’t run plays designed to position the ball in the center of the field to give Jeff Reed the best opportunity to send the game into overtime. The thought didn’t even occur to them, and for that we’re thankful. It’s a testament to the two teams but also an indictment of the NFL’s pathetic overtime rule to say this blatant truth: Overtime would have ruined that game. It also would have exposed the sudden-death rule for what it is, but it would have ruined the game Ask yourself this: Do you think Roger Goodell was rooting for overtime? No, I don’t think so either.”

OKLAHOMA STATE RELOADS

With a terrific football recruiting class – despite efforts by Texas A&M boosters to undermine coach Mike Gundy.

THAT’S JUST MEAN

“If you had a party, it seems to me the last person you want to hit the bong is Michael Phelps, with the lung capacity of a humpback whale.”

ABC funnyman Jimmy Kimmel.

MEGAPHONE

“My heart starts beating when I see that star on the helmet and the pictures of the players I started with in the game. I just can’t get those first 16 years of my career out of my system.”

Former NFL coach Dan Reeves, on why he considered joining the Cowboys to assist old friend Wade Phillips.