Apparently, a man who is having trouble finding work in a down economy has decided, yet again and with the help of his ever-so-earnest agent, that playing baseball for a year for $25 million or two years for $45 million is somehow beneath him. Below is the release from the Dodgers, which includes a rather cryptic comment from Frank McCourt that seems to suggest that while this isn’t over, it’s over for now, and the next move will have to be made by the Boras/Ramirez party:

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers today received a letter from Scott Boras, the agent for Manny Ramirez, rejecting the offer that the club made yesterday. This rejection is the fourth by the agent in the club’s attempts to sign Manny.
“We love Manny Ramirez,” said Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt, “And we want Manny back, but we feel we are negotiating against ourselves. When his agent finds those ‘serious offers’ from other clubs, we’ll be happy to re-start the negotiations.
“Even with an economy that has substantially eroded since last November, out of respect for Manny and his talents, we actually improved our offer.
“So now, we start from scratch.”