Giants' beat writer Henry Schulman has been working on the Manny Ramirez story but has been unable to confirm reports offered in the Denver Post and KPIX San Francisco. But he does indicate that the Giants would have more flexability if they offered Ramirez a backloaded contract. "One industry source did make a good point, though," writes Schulman. "The Giants have a lot of money coming off the books next year, roughly $29 million on Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Bengie Molina, and Randy Johnson alone."