MINNEAPOLIS — Major League Baseball may not have seen the last of Manny Ramirez — not yet.
He's
landed on his feet every time — after the Red Sox rid themselves of him
with a trade to the Dodgers in 2008, after he was suspended for 50
games the next season for testing positive for a banned substance.
He
was claimed off waivers by the White Sox and signed a $2 million
contract with the Rays, where his tenure lasted just five days before he
abruptly retired on April 8, 2011 — as he faced a 100-game suspension
after again testing positive for a banned substance in spring training.
It looked like that might be it. Manny might have been finished being Manny.
But
now, almost 14 months later, the 12-time All-Star and two-time World
Series champion might be getting his final shot. On Feb. 20, Ramirez
signed a minor-league contract with the Oakland A's, and that looming
suspension was altered to just 50 games.
On Wednesday, the
A's will play their 51st game. Ramirez will be eligible, and when the
team announced he'd begin a 10-day rehab assignment on May 19 after his
extended spring training in Arizona, the murmurs began. The buzz
intensified Monday night, when the A's announced that Ramirez would not
join the team in Minnesota on Wednesday, his 40th birthday.
Ramirez's
status is day-to-day. He needs more time with the team's Triple-A squad
in Sacramento, where he batted .250 with four RBI and no extra-base
hits. So we wait. We wonder. Will Manny Ramirez get another shot at the
majors?
To some of Ramirez's potential teammates in Oakland, though, questions about the slugger are the furthest thing from important.
Jonny
Gomes, a 10-year veteran, said he's a little bit shocked that Ramirez
got a job with the A's in the first place. There's a reason that there
aren't many 40-year-olds who have an impact in baseball, Gomes said, and
his skepticism isn't a knock on Ramirez. He's more interested than
excited about the latest Ramirez saga, intrigued to watch it unfold.
"It's
interesting, because if he comes here and hits. 315 with four or five
home runs a month, we'll take it," Gomes said. "If he comes here and
hits .000, that's expected too… If he comes up here and hits .100,
there's going to be people that say ‘I told ya.’ If he comes up here and
hits .340, people out there are going to say ‘I told ya.’"
What
most fascinates Gomes is the question mark that Ramirez represents.
Gomes is impressed with Ramirez, rattling off his stats as if they've
been memorized for years, but he's also hesitant to ascribe too much to
the A's offseason move. The team is struggling, with a 22-27 record and
batting .211 through Monday, but Ramirez isn't necessarily the solution.
"The
team obviously could use a kick-start to the offense, but it's just so
interesting that a guy with his career carries such a question mark,"
Gomes said. "The guy's got 555 homers. He's a career over-.300 hitter,
and we're seeing if he can play."
What Gomes sees are the
question marks. How do you evaluate a veteran's play at Triple-A? What
does Ramirez's average mean? His lack of power? The seven strikeouts in
35 at-bats? These are valid concerns. Even outfielder Coco Crisp, who
was Ramirez's teammate in Boston from 2006 to 2008, isn't certain how
Ramirez will perform when he's called up, though he said it's hard to
think he won't do well.
Ramirez was an All-Star every year
that Crisp was his teammate, and that's what sticks with the younger
player. He thinks Ramirez will provide veteran leadership to the club.
Crisp also said Ramirez will be able to help rookie outfielder Yoenis
Cespedes with his transition from Cuba to the major leagues.
But even Ramirez's former teammate seemed as unconcerned as Gomes about the slugger's time frame.
"We
go about our game as we would," Crisp said. "Me personally… I don't
lose any sleep or wonder. The only time I think about it is when it's
brought up to me. But with that said, knowing from spring training that
he was going to be here around a certain time, we already had a kind of
idea."
So for now, Ramirez will remain with Sacramento, and
the A's will continue their efforts to claw their way to .500. Despite
the doubts that surround Ramirez's career, if and when he makes his
debut, he'll be the team's newest hope. There's no way to predict what
will happen, but Gomes is right: It will no doubt be interesting.
"I don't know what kind of Manny… will play out in Oakland," Gomes said. "But we'll see how it all pans out."
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