PHOENIX -- While the suits spent the past 4 1/2 months in a protracted and sometimes tense contract negotiation, Manny Ramirez must have been rehearsing his punch lines, because he was at his entertaining best during Thursday's news conference announcing his new Dodgers contract.

"I'm baaaaack," he said after stepping to the microphone. "I want to thank the McCourts for doing a good investment."

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He was asked if he planned to exercise the new opt-out clause in the two-year, $45 million deal that allows him to be a free agent next year if he chooses.

"Not yet," he deadpanned. "I'm going to play the first year."

Any rush to debut in spring games?

"I've got to get my Gold Glove ready," he said with a smile, estimating it would be a week before he plays.

Ramirez came to the Dodgers last summer from the Red Sox after forcing a trade that tore up $20 million options for 2009 and '10. Ramirez, 37 in May, originally sought a contract length of six years at a salary in the Alex Rodriguez neighborhood ($27.5 million a year).

Was he disappointed in the final outcome?

"I won. I got out of [Boston]," he said. "I already make my money [$162 million in career earnings]. I'm in a great place, where I want to play. I am happy, my teammates love me, the fans love me. Sometimes it's better to have a two-year deal in a place you're happy than an eight-year deal in a place you suffer."

Ramirez also spoke about his "unfinished business" after last year's National League Championship Series elimination, but mostly this news conference was meant to wipe the slate clean of any lingering hard feelings after a marathon negotiation (141 days by general manager Ned Colletti's count) that was fruitless until the last four days.

Ramirez even had club chairman Frank McCourt smiling Thursday.

"He made me laugh," McCourt said of Ramirez, who was described by agent Scott Boras as "a stand-up left fielder."

"He said I should wear shorts and flip-flops to work," McCourt said.

Five years into his ownership, McCourt has had his share of stumbles, but he scored his biggest victory in this negotiation. He correctly calculated how the economic slowdown would impact free agency and -- refusing to bid against himself when Ramirez had no realistic alternative -- won a hardball negotiation with Ramirez and the pre-eminent agent in the game.

After a series of counterproposals from Boras attempting to minimize the amount of deferred money, McCourt felt negotiations were "moving in the wrong direction" and on Sunday said they would have to "start from scratch," seemingly pulling his latest offer. On Monday night, Boras backed down and told the club that Ramirez would accept the offer presented five days earlier.

But that didn't get the deal done. With the financials resolved, McCourt said he needed assurance that Ramirez meant what Boras had been saying, which led to a series of face-to-face meetings and, ultimately, an agreement that brought all parties via private jet to Camelback Ranch-Glendale on Thursday.

"Not only is his head in the right place," McCourt said, "but his heart is in the right place."

It was important to McCourt that Ramirez agreed to donate $1 million to the Dodgers Dream Foundation for building a Dodgers Dream Field. McCourt said he will insert a "Ramirez provision" in all future Dodgers player contracts for such donations.

"He's very sophisticated, very bright, but he has a lot of boy in him," McCourt said of Ramirez. "He understands, at the end of the day, it's a game."

The Dodgers are a business, but the business is entertainment, and McCourt believes that the club will succeed if it can provide an escape for fans, particularly during tough economic times. He seemed more convinced on Thursday that Ramirez can be the linchpin in the Dodgers fulfilling that mission.

"It's a challenging time out there," McCourt said. "Manny has a good time. He makes people laugh and makes people have a good time watching him. Not everybody can do that. At the end of the day, the deal is much more than about money."

Ramirez accepted a similar deal to the one the Dodgers offered at a meeting of the principals in his Dodger Stadium office this past Wednesday -- two years, $45 million ($25 million in 2009, $20 million in '10) with a player option after the first year and a no-trade clause.

The Dodgers were determined not to guarantee Ramirez more than two years. Boras said his client gave him orders to exhaust all options with the Dodgers before seriously considering any other club because Ramirez found Los Angeles an ideal cultural fit and he enjoyed playing for manager Joe Torre.

"He's gregarious, he's comedic, he's witty," Boras said of Ramirez. "Ned did a great job in sensing that there had to be a solution for each party's needs. This contract allows for a better understanding of the player and the economy a year from now. The bottom line is, Manny likes Mannywood."