It's been a long time since Manny's done any celebrating. |
ESPN.com-Manny Ramirez has agreed to a deal with the Oakland Athletics. The team announced the minor league deal Monday.
Ramirez is expected to report to spring training by the end of the week.
The deal is worth about $500,000. Ramirez is obligated to serve a 50-game suspension without pay before beginning play for the A's due to violating baseball's drug policy for the second time. With no rainouts, the first game Ramirez would be eligible to play is on his 40th birthday -- May 30 at Minnesota. That didn't deter general manager Billy Beane and the Athletics.
"I am very pleased Billy was able to add Manny to our team," A's owner Lew Wolff said in an email. "I look forward to welcoming him and the entire team that Billy and his people have assembled for the coming season."
The Oakland Athletics are giving the infamous Manny Ramirez one more chance to have an impact in the MLB, but his days of smashing home runs and high-fiving fans mid-play are long gone.It's felt like decades since Manny has been relevant in the MLB, and I'm not talking about ingesting estrogen or press conferences with the LA Dodgers. I'm talking about when pitchers feared throwing to him. When he was raking home runs, admiring them as if he was Picasso and the long ball was his Guernica. Frustation was at a premium for Manny's organizations and coaching staffs during his career, but his career stats argue that it was totally worth it. But like most egotistical superstars, his career faded faster than the sun in Alaska during winter.
So why are the A's taking chance on Ramirez? I guess it's hardly a chance when you're paying an ex-superstar only $500,000 to potentially resurrect his career. But as much as a low-risk, high-reward ploy the A's might believe this opportunity might be, it won't be. Manny's three years removed from his last solid season, and five years out from his last prime year. He's 39 years old, going on 40. He won't rediscover his cut or add any MPH to his swing speed, and he most certainly will be a liability in the field if he ever gets a chance to play there. But I guess when you only have to pay 500k on a guy with an illustrious career, as far removed as he is, you do it.
ESPN will probably make a big deal out of this signing for a week, maybe two. They'll talk about his 50-game suspension, that probably won't matter. Manny will have 15 more seconds of fame, and we'll all read the story, listen to the analysis and then move on. Most likely Ramirez won't make the majors, and we'll be talking about Manny's retirement press conference instead of any career resurrection.
Unfortunately folks, Manny is no longer Manny.
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