MONDAY, 4:37am: Olney tweets that it's "unlikely, but possible" that the Rays will show interest in bringing Ramirez back.
SUNDAY, 8:44pm: In a news release, MLB has confirmed that Ramirez has applied for reinstatement and will serve a 50-game suspension, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
8:32pm: The Rays aren't expected to have any interest in signing Ramirez again, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.
6:04pm: The Mariners are probably not interested in signing Ramirez, a source tells Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
4:01pm: Olney tweets that the early response from evaluators around baseball is that an AL team will give Manny a non-roster invite to Spring Training to see if he can still hit. Olney also speculates that the following teams will have no interest in Ramirez: the Red Sox, Yankees, Royals, Tigers, White Sox, Indians, Twins, Rangers, Angels, and A's (more Twitter links).
3:14pm: A source tells ESPN's Buster Olney that Ramirez has already filed for reinstatement and that he will indeed serve a 50-game suspension rather than 100. Ramirez is currently working out in Florida. He and his agents have told teams that he is ready to begin discussions. Ramirez's suspension clock wouldn't begin until he signs a contract (all Twitter links).
2:22pm: Morosi clarifies that the Players' Union will argue that Ramirez effectively served his 100-game suspension last season. MLB will need to apply some form of punishment though, and Morosi says a 50-game suspension is a likely compromise. The 50-game violation isn't official, but both sides "seem amenable to it," says Morosi (Twitter links).
1:55pm: Manny Ramirez apparently isn't done "being Manny" yet. The troubled slugger will file for reinstatement from Major League Baseball's voluntary retired list according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Ramirez has hired agents Barry Praver and Scott Shapiro, and will be eligible to play in the 2012 season following a 50-game suspension, though his initial punishment was a 100-game suspension.
Ramirez signed a one-year deal to be the Rays' primary designated hitter last season, but abruptly retired in the season's first week after he tested positive for a banned substance for the second time in his career.
Without the PED controversy, the 39-year-old's career numbers would make him a lock for the Hall of Fame. He owns a career .312/.411/.585 triple slash line with 555 long balls. Those credentials are obviously questionable in light of drug testing though, and nearly 74% of MLBTR readers who responded to this April poll said they didn't feel Ramirez should make it to Cooperstown.
Oh that’s just Manny being Manny.
I believe that would be 100 games.
No bueno.
Manny being Farve.
Favre*
Would anyone even want him at this point?
For the league minimum off the bench? Sure.
Without ‘roids he isn’t worth that, and with them he is out of baseball for life. What is the over-under he fails a test?
If he does sign with somebody, he won’t do anything spectacular. I think its a waste of money.
It was to be 100. He got 50 with the dodgers.
Isn’t it 100 games since he is a multiple offender?
oh dear
Wouldn’t he technically belong to the Rays still? Is the system similar to football? Where players can not announce retirement just get away from a team? Not to say the Rays want them but is it possible?
Likely just trying to delay his official retirement date, to put as much space between his positive steroids test and when he becomes eligible for the HOF.
It don’t work that way. It’s based on the last game played not when “officially” announcing your retirement.
It’s actually five years after a player files for retirement. It’s part of the reason why players like Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens are holding back their retirement papers.
Aside from their court issues, they want to see what becomes of the HOF-steroid issue before they get on the ballot and potentially receive < 5% of the votes and lose ballot eligibility.
Manny may just as well be employing a similar tactic. No doubt A-Rod pulls the same thing if the HOF-steroid issue isn't cleared by the time he "retires."
i’m pretty sure that’s not true, and nathanalext has it right
Yup. Nathanalext has it right. A good example of how it’s the five year rule that matters, as opposed to the player’s expressed desire to retire would be Jose Rijo. Rijo had multiple Tommy John surgeries and hadn’t played in 5 years in 2000. he insisted he wasn’t retired but he went on the HoF ballot anyway. Then he made a comeback the next year and pitched parts of two seasons.
Yup: the BBHOF site says to be eligible to go on the ballot, “Player shall have ceased to be an active player in the Major Leagues at least five calendar years preceding the election.”
It says nothing at all about the timing of filing paperwork.
This from the Hall of Fame web site:
“Players who are eligible have played 10 seasons of Major League Baseball and have been retired from for five full seasons. For example, those players eligible for consideration in 2012 will have played their final game in 2006. Those players eligible for consideration in 2013 will have last played in 2007, etc.”
Soundsfrom that like ballot eligibility occurs after their last game
I don’t think Rickey Henderson ever officially retired.
Do you actually think he cares about the HOF? Doubt it.
Not even sure he is intelligent enough to comprehend what the HOF is
LOL Yeah that’s kind of what I was going for. I don’t think he cares about the HOF at all. He seems to be one of those guys that will retire and nobody will ever hear from him again. If he got inducted, I could see him not even showing up to the ceremony.
What everyone is forgetting is his agent’s hand in all of this. He is most likely the one behind Manny’s return, While there is money to be made, there will be plenty of people sticking their hands out and lining their own pockets.
If the agents hand was really that important manny would have never retired. I still dont get why he did theres bo difference between being retired and being suspended.
Yes! Manny’s back! , i actually hope some team signs him just for the entertainment value.
this guy likes to grow rice
this guy likes to grow rice
I hear the Marlins have made an aggressive offer
9 years?
yeah and if he signs they are going to have him as Billy the Marlin while he serves his suspension.
nobody likes you fyi
nobody likes you fyi
6@$111 mill ?
Manny is a joke to the game
He is a joke to most anyone, except himself.
He will have to wait until McGwire, Palmeiro, et al get in the HOF before he’s even considered really. If he’s in, so are they.
Why he’s alot better than both of them
RE: Cooperstown: I’m surprised anyone really cares about the HoF. It’s not needed to remember a player, and it’s more of a gimmick than anything.
It’s not a gimmick to the guys who truly deserve it. Still a huge honor.
tell that to what’s-his-name and who’s-its
I plan to be flamed, but I’ll say it anyway.
Manny might not be the best person or teammate. But the guy can hit the ball good. And he only used steroids to keep his health. He wasn’t like Bonds or McGwire and used them to get better. He only used them to keep himself younger and to keep his health.
I plan to be disagreed with, but it’s true. He shouldn’t go in the HoF. But the guy is a good player.
Just curious, why would’ve Bonds needed them to get better? He was probably a HOF player BEFORE steroids. He became more of a longshot after and because of them.
Barry used extreme amounts of roids and used really strong one’s (Masteron, Winstrol, and a few other things.)
I think people are likely to respond bby saying “How do you know?”. I wouldn;t disagree with the second paragraph of your post because it isn’t that controversial. The first part though about why he took roids… Do you know Manny? How the hell do you know why he took them?
“The first part though about why he took roids… Do you know Manny? How the hell do you know why he took them?”
The types of steroids he took weren’t like the ones Mark and Barry took. They were on hardcore roids where as Manny was on some weaker ones. Also, Manny took a lot of women fertility drugs and other things, they can be used to keep health at times (And to cover up real steroid use too, so he probably used them for 2 reasons)
Fair enough. I don’t pretend to know the difference. I find it hard to believe that he took all that stuff to stay healthy though. They’re called performance enhancing drugs for a reason.
Manny is the only steroid user I stand up for. I hate the rest, and none of them deserve to be in the HoF. But Manny was given a bad break in the last few years.
He used banned substances by MLB knowingly. How is that a bad break?
It is when he didn’t do nearly the amounts Bonds and McGwire did and they walked away from it and no one gives them as much hassle as they do to Manny.
Everyone gives bends a hard time. They did for McGwire too until he came out and apologized.
“no one gives them as much hassle as they do to Manny.”
You CAN’T be serious.
Yeah, he was given a bad break. Twice. It’s sad enough that he had the first bad break when he was with the Dodgers, I’m really heartbroken about the SECOND bad break he had with the Rays. Hang on a sec, I need to get a tissue.
Female fertility drugs are taken by ex roid users to safely maintain their estrogen levels and testosterone levels once they stop using roids. When some one stops using any kind of steroids their test levels drop while their estrogen levels jump bthe fertility drugs help balance those levels. Thts why he
Was using them.
Yeah that’s it.
I was off by a lot. My steroid knowledge isn’t what it used to be. I knew a fertility drug was used to keep health, but it was to keep health after steroids. Not while on steroids. So yeah, I was wrong about that.
Please stop with all your speculative BS. The real reason Manny took the female fertility drugs was to be able to deliver a healthy love child fathered by David Ortiz. No other reason.
” Manny took a lot of women fertility drugs”
HAHAHA Why does that not surprise me? He always was a “squatter” deep down.
manny took roid for the same reason everybody does roids will turn a warning track power player in to a homerum hitter will turn a good player to great player or great player to like barry bond
This isnt true at all.
If you don’t think Manny was using in his 20s you are delusional
How do you know he can “hit the ball good (sic)”? How do you know kind of hitter he would have been if he hadn’t had steroids to pump him up? He might have been a mediocre or bad hitter whose on and off the field antics would have made him a MLB untouchable many, many years before he “retired”? No one except Manny knows when he started juicing. He might have started in high school.
Manny Ramirez was always obscenely talented and productive. Go back and look at his minor league numbers. There is high school scouting video bouncing around somewhere as well. Argue all you want about his durability and longevity being aided by performance enhancers, but there is no doubt about his talent from an early age on.
Just because Manny could “hit the ball good” since high school (where he batted like .650 or so iirc) doesn’t mean he could do it without steroids. Like I said before and you seemed to ignore… He might have been juicing since high school. It isn’t like he would be the first athelete to juice while still in high school.
I really don’t see how this is a defensible argument. Yeah, he was a great hitter, no one can take that away from him. When he truly tried and truly cared, almost no one was on his level. But, the “reason” he might have taken steroids and the amount of steroids taken is immaterial. He took steroids and rather than serve his second offense and stay with the team that signed him, he chose to “retire” and now come back. It says a lot about his character.
If he stopped what he was doing, admitted it and moved on, he’d have a lot more respect in the league (not that he cares about that, I’m sure). Giambi admitted to steroids years ago and is still playing and is rarely brought up anymore in that conversation.
If they would stop testing for PED at 40, he might still be productive.
And that might not be a bad idea, let the old guys get an edge. Just joking, don’t respond.
He should have just served the suspension last year if he wanted to play. Seems dumb.
HeiIS epically dumb, like borderline retarded, but thanks to PEDs, he was retard strong
Well, that’s just an offensive remark,
i dont think he has the number to be in hof because he was not a great outfielder and then with all these with steroid that make it more impossible for him to be elected…to me his numbers are compatible with jim rice and he enventually got in after how many years..i dont know i know we are a forgiving society after time has passed may be he has a chance
“i dont think he has the number to be in hof because he was not a great outfielder”
That’s just insane. He has over 500 home runs, second most RBIs of hitters in this generation, and an OPS+ ranking 25 of all time. Doesn’t have the numbers? You’ve got to be joking.
Personally I just don’t want confirmed steroid users in the Hall. It seems hypocritical to call them great.
Manny was using with Joey Belle in the 90’s. I call BS on the “staying healthy” crap. He mostly stood around immobile in LF and batted. He never slid or hustled in the field or on the bases. Why wouldn’t he stay healthy?
Don’t forget the Palmeiro-Juan Gonzales-Canseco connection to Cleveland and Manny.
The steroid era may have started in Oakland, but it really got rolling in Texas.
If Manny wants to come back to MLB, he should serve the full 100 game suspension that he would have been given if he hadn’t “retired”. Period.
I have a sick feeling in my stomach that the Rays might bring him back. They like to go cheap.
I hope they do. I’m not sure if they would risk being apart of his story twice in two years though.
Rays are way too smart for this, I believe.
I guess he needs a paycheck real bad.
Needs to pay for all the juice.
Just doesn’t make sense to me that the MLB feels the need to find middle-ground with the Player’s Union. The MLB set these penalties up to be used in cases of confirmed PED use. Makes the rules seem even more of a joke to the fans of the game than they already are.
I get he missed last season. That was his choice. The penalty is still his to serve, that’s not anyone’s problem but his.
He should get an extra 62 game penalty added on for the mockery.
Not this train-wreck again…
The better question is what teams might bite…maybe the Mets, the O’s or the Blue Jays? Not sure if the Mariners are really that desperate. Manny could be a decent chip if he exceeds when the deadline arrives.
Almost certainly not gonna be in the NL.
Saw Manny multiple times in spring training last year. He was just raking the ball everywhere on a line. Then the unexplained hiatus for a few days (a family matter) and he returned to start the season. He was horrible when the season started. I think he had one hit – an infield job. I had to think that he was juicing during the spring, got caught and stopped, hence the surprisingly big drop off. I don’t think he has anything left when juiceless. Teams should stay away.
I don’t think steroids work like that. You don’t immediately fall off the boat. It happens over time. They help you exercise. They don’t give you muscles.
I tend to think that you are right. In fact, I was always a bit skeptical about the whole steroids impact on hitting a baseball. The difference in Manny was so extreme that I started to wonder myself. Maybe knowing that he had gotten caught got to his head and he couldn’t hit in the regular season. He really was killing the ball in the spring which had gotten Rays fans attention. I can’t imagine he would be worth a roster spot.
You have not been paying attention the last two years. Just look at the power numbers throughout MLB. Just about all the power numbers are down in both leagues and the pitching numbers are up. Why would that be?
I think there will be more interest than just the Jays, O’s, Rays, and M’s.
he retired without officially serving his suspension, mlb needs to adhere to its policy and make him serve his suspension or else their whole policy is a joke, this is is second time CAUGHT CHEATING.If it was arod, you can be damn sure he’d have to serve the full suspension whether he retired, died or whatever.
Boston needs to sign him so he can retire in his rightful home.
No caps?
No caps?
Not the same person…notice the “D” on the end?
Imposter , thinks people will take him serious with this lame persona.
growrice has no friends
So does he get suspended as soon as he returns to the MLB? Or does he get away with it?
in the words of gollum: leave now and never come back
Just retire Manny and let the Dodgers pay you the next 2 seasons…..GO AWAY
Manny needs to serve some indy league time.
so pretty much he’s already down to 5 AL teams?
i hear the marlins are making an aggresive offer to julio franco
So now it’s pretty much between the Orioles and Blue Jays (unless of course the NL is a possibility.)
My team Hodag435, has no interest in Manny.
I’m back baby
So what the Rays have no problems trading for a rapist but cant have junkie Manny?
A good fit for the Orioles. I would bet money the man can still rake.
Just…. Just… Why???….
best news evah!!!
Is there a way to block all Manny references on my computer?
I would sign Manny to a one-year minor league contract that guarantees the major league minimum and, after the suspension is completed, make him prove himself for 40-50 games in the minors before bringing him to the major leagues. (Especially if I was a small market, American League team.)