By MIKE PIELLUCCI
FOXSportsSouthwest.com
Jan. 21, 2011
Seven years later, Manny Ramirez could finally be heading to the Rangers after all.
According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers are pursuing free agent designated hitter-outfielder Manny Ramirez to provide another powerful right-handed batter at their disposal.
The Angels and Rays are also interested in the 38-year-old, but per Sullivan, Ramirez told the Rangers that he would be interested in playing for them and that the club has reciprocated his interest.
While the Angels have been reported by some outlets as the favorite for Ramirez's services, the Rays could also provide the Rangers with plenty of competition should they make an offer.
According to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, while Tampa Bay is heavily linked to signing Ramirez's former teammate Johnny Damon to be a hybrid DH-OF, the Rays are also interested in adding Ramirez or free-agent Vladimir Guerrero, who played for the Rangers last season, to be a right-handed, power-hitting component of a platoon with Damon if the price is right.
Rosenthal believes that Ramirez will be the cheaper of the two, and therefore, the more likely option.
Ramirez has been one of the game's premier hitters, with outstanding numbers that include a career .313 batting average and 555 career home runs. But he has slumped in the past two seasons, playing in just 194 out of a possible 324 games and totaling just 28 home runs and 105 RBI
