ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted the scoop:
Manny Ramirez Officially Reinstated By MLB
Manny Ramirez has officially been reinstated by MLB from the voluntary retirement list.
No problem, right? Manny goes back to hitting home runs, right? Not so fast, tweets Buster:
To be clear, Manny would still have to serve a 50-game suspension if/when he was in position to be put on a roster by a team.
Well, there's the proverbial rub. The request for reinstatement by Manny is ... quixotic at best. Manny will be 40 years old at the end of May. He hit just nine home runs in his last "full" season (2010), and that "full" season included his first 50-game suspension for PED use. In his attempted comeback with the Rays last April, he went 1-for-17 (a single) before retiring rather than serve a 100-game suspension because he was caught using PEDs ... again.
Given the fact that Manny is now several years past the point where he was even a mediocre left fielder, he’s really suited only to DH. Most AL teams are pretty well set at that position, plus likely don’t want the headaches associated with “Manny being Manny”. MLB Trade Rumors speculates that all he’d get would be a non-roster invite to spring training, but given his age, poor performance, lack of need from most teams and, well, “Manny being Manny”, it wouldn’t appear his reinstatement will create much demand at all.
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