DENVER -- Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez is headed to the Chicago White Sox on Monday is what is looking like a straight waiver claim, a league source with knowledge of the situation said Sunday on condition of anonymity.
Ramirez
Ramirez
The source said there was still some chance the two clubs will work out a trade that presumably would involve a mid-level prospect going from the White Sox to the Dodgers, a development that probably would mean the Dodgers would pay a small percentage of the $3.825 million remaining on Ramirez's two-year, $45 million contract.
Another league source, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Dodgers' preference at this point is to simply allow Ramirez to go to the White Sox as a waiver claim, in which case the White Sox would be responsible for the entire $3.825 million. The Dodgers have had that option available to them ever since the White Sox secured waiver rights to Ramirez on Friday.
It is the White Sox, the second source said, who want the Dodgers to take a prospect in exchange for cash to cover a percentage of the money still owed Ramirez. The source either wouldn't or couldn't identify the prospect in question.
With the Dodgers slipping further out of contention for a playoff spot after losing two of three to the Colorado Rockies this weekend, club officials apparently decided to go ahead and part ways with Ramirez at a point when it still will save them a considerable amount of money.
The White Sox, who had been looking to bolster their offense for the stretch run, trail the Minnesota Twins by 4½ games in the AL Central.
Ramirez didn't start any of his final four games with the Dodgers. He pinch hit in the top of the sixth inning of Sunday's 10-5 loss to the Rockies but was ejected from the game after one pitch when he argued a called strike that appeared to be a few inches off the outside corner. That apparently was his final act in a Dodgers uniform.
Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Wow. Surprising.