updated 7:03 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Russell Martin says he and his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates want Manny Ramirez to return, but the slugger "isn't necessarily the difference between us winning or losing."

Ramirez has rejected three offers from the Dodgers to re-sign with the team he joined at the July 31 trading deadline and helped win the NL West. The latest offer of one year at $25 million would have made him baseball's second-highest paid player after Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees.

"Whether we have him or not, I think our team has got a good core and he just complements the rest of the guys," Martin said Wednesday during a team visit to Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

"But he isn't necessarily the difference between us winning or losing. You can't just put all that on one person because a team is not one person. It's a unit, and you need everybody to do things to help you win. I think we can make the playoffs without him for sure."

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has acknowledged that negotiating with Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras, is challenging. Media reports Wednesday said Boras and Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti resumed negotiations on a Ramirez contract.

"Knowing Scott Boras and the way he deals, I'm not surprised at all," Martin said. "We're just going to have to be patient. Everybody in L.A., I think, wants him on the team and every single guy on the team wants him here. But it's up to him to make that decision."

McCourt joined some of his players in visiting and signing autographs for sick children at the hospital. He declined to comment on whether he's directly involved in the negotiations.

"We've been, I hope, crystal clear about our desire to have Manny be a Dodger, so we're going to keep trying. I'm certainly hopeful that he wants to come back," the owner said. "I think he enjoyed his time here and that he wants to be here. But it's a question better directed to Manny himself, because it's his decision."

Martin defended Dodgers manager Joe Torre for writing a controversial new book "The Yankee Years," that revealed behind-the-scenes details from his stint as Yankees manager.

"He was just trying to show the more human side of the players," Martin said. "I'm sure there's a lot of things that weren't said in that book. There's a lot of things that go on in clubhouses that nobody will ever know. He's a smart person, and he's not going to put something in a book that he's going to regret later on."

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