Sources: Boras asked Dodgers to increase offer to $55 million

And that, according to two well-placed sources with knowledge of the situation, is where the whole thing broke down. This sources also said Boras never openly objected to any proposal by the Dodgers of deferred money, which general manager Ned Colletti said earlier this morning has been part of all three of the formal contract offers the Dodgers have made to Ramirez this winter.

Here’s the story, as I understand it:

At the end of Wednesday’s meeting at Dodger Stadium, it was made clear to Boras that while there was no firm deadline, club officials expected to hear back from him in response to their two-year, $45 million offer, and that they only wanted to hear one of two possible answers: yes or no.
Instead, Boras came back to them with a counter proposal of increasing the offer to two years and $55 million, a deal that would carry an average annual value of $27.5 million — the exact same AAV carried by the 10-year, $275 million contract of Alex Rodriguez, another Boras client. Because the deferred money would be deferred WITHOUT INTEREST, the extra $10 million would theoretically offset the absence of interest on the deferred money.
There is a precedent for money deferred without interest because of a portion of the one-year, $3.38 million contract free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson signed with the Dodgers last weekend is also largely deferred without interest.
Given that the Dodgers already believed they were offering $45 million MORE THAN ANY OTHER TEAM HAD OFFERED RAMIREZ, there was no way they were going to increase their offer by another $10 million. So the Dodgers pulled their offer, and there is presently NO OFFER ON THE TABLE. And the perception that the two sides have now agreed on the value of the deal, two years and $45 million, and are now only haggling on the amount of deferred money, is totally false, according to these sources.
The negotiations are presently at square one: meaning no offer on the table. Dodgers are still interested in signing the player and still interested in negotiating. But it doesn’t look like this is headed for a quick resolution.