Manny Ramirez Set To Join Iowa Cubs As Player-Coach
When the Chicago Cubs signed Manny Ramirez to be a player-coach with their AAA affiliate Iowa Cubs on May 25, it seemed on the surface to be a head scratcher. Ramirez is expected to join Iowa sometime this week.
Why would the Cubs want to sign a player who twice failed tests for performance enhancing drugs, and whose antics were labeled as “Manny being Manny?” Why would a 42-year-old man who spent over 19 years in the big leagues and amassed a career batting average of.312, had 2,574 hits, 555 home runs with 1,831 RBIs want to play in the minors? It turns out both sides are happy with the deal.
Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein saw first-hand what Ramirez can do when the two were together for parts of eight seasons when they were with the Boston Red Sox reported the Des Moines Register.
“Manny has made real mistakes in the past, but he has owned up to them and moved his life in a positive direction the last couple years,” Epstein said at the time. “He is in a really great place right now and wants to share the lessons he’s learned along the way.”
“Manny will coach full-time in a limited role that does not take at-bats away from our prospects,” Epstein said. “If he shows there is still some magic in his bat, perhaps he will find his way to the major leagues and help another team, but that is not why he is here.”
Ramirez is excited about playing again, “I know I am nearing the end of my playing days, but I have a lot of knowledge to pass on to the next generation – both what to do and what not to do,” he said.
Ramirez served a 50 game suspension for PED use in 2009. In 2011 he was informed of another violation of the MLB drug policy and chose to retire rather than face a 100 game suspension according to mlb.com.
Ramirez has been working out at the Cubs spring training facility in Mesa, AZ since he signed.
“As soon as he gets there, he goes to the gym, does his work, and after that, he puts his elbow guard on, batting gloves on and picks up his bat and he goes to the cage,” Wellington Castillo said. “He just wants to hit.”
Castillo, the Cubs’ catcher, met Ramirez when he was on a rehab assignment, and spent 10 days with him. Both reported at 5:30 a.m. every day.
“He’d say, ‘Hey, come at 7:15 to the cage with me,” Castillo said. “If he sees something, he’ll say it to you – ‘You have to do this, get on top of the ball, throw your hips, let the ball come deeper,’ stuff like that which is simple but it means a lot hitting-wise.”
As previously reported in The inquisitr, Ramirez has tried to come back since 2012, playing 47 games in AAA with the A’s and Rangers organizations.
[Image via Bing]
