On Monday, the Oakland Athletics acquired a guy with 555 career home runs and a .996 OPS. Also on Monday, the Oakland Athletics acquired a guy with 39 tree rings, a PED suspension, and a 2011 retirement. They're the same guy! Haha, I tricked you!
Athletics Nation: Not Much Not To Like About Manny Ramirez
The A's signed Manny Ramirez to a minor-league contract. You know that already, because you're reading this. Over at Athletics Nation, Tyler Bleszinski doesn't see much not to like:
Second, Manny is suspended 50 games so the A's don't really have to make any decisions with him until then. If the A's find that Chris Carter or Brandon Allen or someone else can be a beast as a DH prior to then, then you just release Manny.
To me it's classic Billy Beane.
It’s true - because of the suspension, Manny won’t see the majors for a while. That’ll give the A’s an opportunity to play, I don’t know, Chris Carter or Brandon Allen or Kila Ka’aihue. There’ll be trial time. There just won’t be much trial time. Manny isn’t directly blocking anybody, but he could potentially interfere. We’ll see how the A’s manage that. It does help that the A’s are in complete control, having signed Manny to a cheap minor-league deal.
And as Bleszinski points out later in his post, you know who might really be able to learn something from Manny Ramirez? A certain Yoenis Cespedes. Even if Manny doesn’t have much left in the tank - and he might not - he’s long been one of the greatest right-handed hitters in baseball history. Guys like that can impart some knowledge. You don’t think of Manny as being the leader sort, but as a helper? Manny could probably help. If he’s willing.
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