Ramirez Likely Staying Put; Maddux Near Deal

Veteran Greg Maddux, above, reportedly is on the verge of signing a one-year, $10 million deal with San Diego, but Barry Zito is still up for grabs. (By Jed Jacobsohn -- Getty Images)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Dec. 5 -- Baseball took a long, deep breath from a winter of salary-escalation hysteria on Tuesday, a day more notable for the deals that fell apart than for those that came together. At the end of Day Two of the winter meetings at the Walt Disney World Dolphin resort, Manny Ramirez was still with the Boston Red Sox, and Barry Bonds was still unsigned -- and it appeared possible the four-day-long meetings, if not the entire offseason, would expire without either's status changing.

Only in the realm of free agent starting pitching did there appear to be any real progress made -- with veteran Greg Maddux apparently the latest to cash in on the industry's robust economy -- although the news conference podium in the Northern Hemisphere ballroom, where major signings and trades are announced, remained dark.

The Ramirez trade talks may have died -- at least for the time being -- on Tuesday morning, when the Washington Nationals' brain trust met with its counterparts from the Boston Red Sox and closed the door on a proposed three-way deal that would have sent Ramirez to the Los Angeles Angels, Nationals closer Chad Cordero and others to the Red Sox, and several young players to the Nationals, according to baseball executives familiar with those discussions.

According to one of those sources, the element that killed the deal was the Nationals' insistence that pitcher Ervin Santana -- the Angels' primary trading chip in its ongoing search for a power bat -- be included in the package coming to Washington, while the Red Sox insisted on Santana coming to Boston.

"I don't think Ramirez is going anywhere," the executive concluded. "I think he'll be hitting cleanup and playing left field for the Red Sox on Opening Day."

By mid-afternoon, Red Sox Manager Terry Francona was all but acknowledging the same thing, saying in an interview on XM Radio, "I don't see [a trade] happening."

With the Red Sox's signing of outfielder J.D. Drew to a five-year, $70 million deal completed, according to agent Scott Boras, the Red Sox now appear prepared to open the season with Ramirez in left field, Coco Crisp in center and Drew in right -- unless of course, one of the West Coast teams involved in the Ramirez trade talks in recent weeks (the Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners or San Francisco Giants) decides to change course and meet Boston's considerable demands.

The Red Sox also wrapped up their signing of free agent shortstop Julio Lugo to a four-year, $36 million deal.

Weeks after the market for elite position players exploded, thanks largely to the eight-year, $136 million deal outfielder Alfonso Soriano signed with the Chicago Cubs, the market for starting pitching appeared on the verge of doing the same.

One day after Vicente Padilla set the market for middle-of-the-rotation starters at roughly $10 million to $11 million per year -- signing a three-year, $34 million deal to remain with the Texas Rangers -- the 40-year-old Maddux was on the verge of signing a one-year, $10 million deal with the San Diego Padres. Maddux's deal would contain a team option for 2008 worth as much as $10 million more.

At the same time, the market for left-hander Ted Lilly continues to grow, as Lilly's agent, Larry O'Brien, held firm offers from both the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs, with the New York Yankees and the Giants also showing interest. The offers for Lilly are all believed to be in the range of four years, $40 million.

"All four of those clubs are in the mix," O'Brien said, adding he expected Lilly to make a decision in the next couple of days.

However, in regards to the Yankees, it appeared Lilly was merely Plan B -- with Plan A being veteran lefty Andy Pettitte, whom the Yankees reportedly are trying to coax back to the Bronx, where he was a cornerstone of the 1996-2000 Yankee dynasty.

Looming over everything, meantime, was prized lefty Barry Zito, who is to the pitching market what Soriano was to that of position players. Although it has long been assumed Zito would end up with the New York Mets, who remain in pursuit, the Texas Rangers seem determined to blow all other offers away with a six-year package that could approach $100 million.