the manny watch

Manny Ramirez’s rejection today of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 1-year, $25 million offer leaves a lot of people wondering. Where will Manny land? Are the Dodgers done with him? Are the San Francisco Giants still in the hunt? Perhaps no one is more anxious to see this drama play out than former Stone County High and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC star Fred Lewis. With spring training camps opening in just a matter of days, Lewis is the Giants’ projected starting left fielder. But if Ramirez should sign with San Francisco, Lewis suddenly becomes a backup. Ramirez only plays left field (though not real well). The Giants are set in center and right with Aaron Rowand and Randy Winn. Lewis, 28, is coming off a good year, hitting .282 with 9 homers, 40 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in his first full big league season. His year was cut short by a troublesome bunion on his right foot, and he had off-season surgery to remove it. The sweet-swinging lefty appears poised for big things in 2009. But the Ramirez situation clouds the picture. Reports have indicated that the Giants don’t have the money to snag Ramirez. They have told Lewis not to be concerned about his job, and he says he isn’t. “I’m not worried about that side of it,” he told mlb.com. “I’m just worried about Fred.” Still, you know that Lewis — along with a lot of us — is on the Manny Watch.