Manny Ramirez Will Dodge The Dodgers In 2011
Thursday, July 29th, 2010Manny being Manny, Dodger fans or a future vacancy?
The offseason is difficult for true blue baseball fans. Sports are a wonderful distraction amid the hustle, bustle, and hum drum of everyday life. Nothing soothes the baseball nut like baseball season. These fans including me can appreciate the great skill and color Manny Ramirez has brought to the game. But an off-the-cuff statement from the besmirched slugger could be bad news for Los Angeles Dodgers fans in 2011. It could mean extra cash for the team, which owner Frank McCourt (not the guy who wrote “Angela’s Ashes”) could probably use, as he’s in the middle of a nasty divorce.
I wont be here next year, he tells ESPN.
Is this for real, or is he experiencing gonadotrophin withdrawals? As reported by the sports network,
I wont be here next year, so I just want to enjoy myself. I dont know [if I'll play next year]. I just know Im not going to be here. When the season is over, I will see where Im at.
In 2011, he’ll be turning 39
Thats young in the real world, but when it comes to professional sports outside of golf and auto racing, its nearly time for the glue factory. 2010 will be the last season of Manny Ramirezs two-year, $ 45 million contract. Hes coming off a difficult season that was interrupted by a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseballs drug policy. He struggled to find his rhythm ever since.
He’s becoming a DH, surely
Mobility in the field is typically one of the first things to go for a baseball player, which commonly means a trip to first base or a one-way ticket to the American League to be a designated hitter. Manny Ramirez told media that “From the waist down, I feel 15. From the neck up, I feel 43. I feel good. This begs the question of his midsection, although the use of pharmaceuticals may have him fixed up like the torso from Re-Animator. Is that what Lou Merloni was seeing in the Red Sox clubhouse?
Im an employee here, says Manny Ramirez
True, a baseball player is beholden to their organization, but much less so than in the days before the demise of the reserve clause and the start of free agency. Superstars tend of have pull in sports, although that still tends to come in direct proportion to batting average. Manny only hit .218 since September 1st, so his future may not be very rosy. Reed Johnson and Xavier Paul are there too, though neither of them are the offensive talent Manny was in previous seasons, or at least they aren’t yet.
Expect Manny Ramirez retirement talk by the end of the 2010 season. I see him as too much of a free spirit to chase after baseball dreams much longer. He probably has some extra cash somewhere.
