Heat N Glo Fireplace Remote

I recently purchased a house with a Heat n Glo fireplace and remote. When I took the back off of the remote, the batteries were exploded. When I replace the batteries, the remote lights up with a green indiglo light but doesn't have anything on the LCD. I looked at the instructions and it seems like I might have to sync the remote with the receiver. The receiver didn't make any noise when I pushed the sync button on it. It seems like the receiver is unplugged. There is a plug coming off of it that is not plugged in. The plug has a ground which is a wire coming off of where the ground on the plug normally would be plugged, but it is not connected to anything. I am thinking I need to plug it in and attach the ground.

Is the remote shot?

My other question, is how much would it cost to get a blower installed? Is this something I shoudl attempt myself?