A's may make Manny Ramirez their DH

Austin said:

from ESPN.com

ORLANDO -- The Oakland Athletics are "very interested" in making Manny Ramirez their designated hitter next season, a source told ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com.

Ramirez, 39, has been working out in Miami since December and has plans to have open workout sessions for clubs interested in his services at the end of January.

Last week, ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com reported that the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays had a look at Ramirez batting in an indoor cage.

"The Orioles and Blue Jays saw Manny work and Baltimore liked what it saw, but Oakland has been the team that has expressed the most interest, even before having him work out," the source said.

Ramirez, a .312 lifetime hitter with 555 home runs and 1,831 career RBIs over 19 seasons, was reinstated by Major League Baseball from the "voluntarily retired" list after the Dominican player opted to leave the game instead of serving a second suspension for violating the league's banned substances policy in 2011 while playing for the Tampa Bay Rays.

In an agreement reached with MLB, Ramirez must serve a 50-game suspension upon finding a team that will sign him instead of the customary 100-game suspension levied on repeat offenders.

"Every day that goes by I regret the decisions I made due to bad advice," Ramirez told ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com in December. "We're all human and we make mistakes. Everyone deserves an opportunity to show that they have changed."

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ChasHawk said:

Why the F would they let him drop down to 50 games?

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George_Calfas said:

ChasHawk said:

Why the F would they let him drop down to 50 games?

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50 "credit" for not being allowed to play in DR Winter Ball

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vwnut13 said:

George_Calfas said:

ChasHawk said:

Why the F would they let him drop down to 50 games?

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50 "credit" for not being allowed to play in DR Winter Ball

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I thought it was something to do with the games after he retired not the winter league.

If it truely was the winter league, all players that get caught taking steroids should sign up. I'm talking to you Ryan Braun. :lol:

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In September 2011, reports surfaced that Ramirez was planning on playing in the Dominican Winter League for the Cibao Eagles. In a statement, the team said that Ramirez hoped to motivate other Major League stars to play in the country. However, the MLB Commissioners office issued a statement that since the Dominican League is affiliated with MLB, Ramirez would not be eligible to play without first serving his mandated suspension.

Upon hearing that his plans to play in the winter league would not work, Ramirez decided to formally request reinstatement with MLB and that he was willing to serve his 100 game suspension for the second violation of the drug policy. He stated that he was not prepared for retirement and that he will be available for any MLB team and if none show interest, then he will "play in Japan or some other place".

On December 4 it was announced that Ramirez had formally filed the papers with the league to be reinstated to baseball and that an agreement had been reached between MLB and the Players Association that he would only need to serve a 50 game suspension instead of the original 100 games.

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James52411 said:

The A's are being actively destructive at this point. It's almost like they are trying to put together a pitiful, unlikable team so that attendance will crater and they can move to San Jose.

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