Manny ready to be Major League Manny again
Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Manny Ramirez reacts after catching a fly ball during spring training in Port Charlotte, Fla. (Feb. 21, 2011) Credit: AP
DALLAS -- Manny Ramirez has put his comeback efforts in motion, and Major League Baseball will ease his transition back if the twice-caught slugger finds a team willing to give him a chance.
Ramirez, 39, will receive only a 50-game suspension upon reinstatement despite having twice violated baseball's rules for illegal performance-enhancing drugs, MLB announced Sunday. After joining the Rays, he retired this past April rather than serve what would have been a 100-game suspension when he failed a test. As a Dodger, he received a 50-game suspension in 2009 when a rules violation on illegal PED usage was determined.
MLB officials bent on Ramirez's suspension because he sat out more than 150 games in 2011 as a result of his failed test.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman, asked Sunday if he'd be interested in signing Ramirez, said, "I don't think so."
There doesn't figure to be much of a bidding war for him, given that the Rays signed him to a $2-million deal and he went 1-for-16 for them on the heels of a weak finish to his 2010 season.
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