Manny Ramirez: Teams Will Foolishly Entertain Childish Slugger

We often need to separate the difference between what should happen and what will happen. Manny Ramirez should never face another pitch in Major League Baseball. But none of that means that he won't ever see another pitch. Someone will bring him in. 

According to Buster Olney, Ramirez is going to basically audition for any major league team that wants to see him. 

Some team will take the bait, although no team should. 

When Ramirez filed for a return, Olney wrote that the 100-game suspension would be cut to 50 games, since he would have served the suspension last year if he didn't retire. 

Still, we're looking at 50 games. That's nearly a third of the season that a team would be without the services of Ramirez. That's not a small number. It's also not the only problem.

In recent years, Ramirez has had a problem staying healthy. In 2009, he served a 50-game suspension, but still played in 104 games. That's not a terrible ratio. But other than that, it's pretty ugly. 

2010	90
2007	133
2006	130

Injuries have been a problem. Ramirez will turn 40 in May. The injury bug is not going to go away anytime soon. That's not how things work.

Even when healthy, Ramirez's value will be entirely in the American League as a designated hitter, or as a pinch hitter. I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like the role Jorge Posada played for the Yankees in 2010. 

Posada was an absolute bust, and he doesn't have any of Ramirez's baggage. There's no history of "Jorge being Jorge," or giving up on the team or steroid suspensions. Ramirez has all of that. This isn't a person that any team should want any part of. 

But someone will. Ramirez is a big name, and that does bring a draw. If nothing else, there's a sideshow element. People will watch because something could go wrong. 

People will also watch because on occasion, Ramirez can belt the impressive long ball. He's nowhere near the player that hit better than .300/30/100 every year in the 2000's, but he can show signs of that guy, at least on one pitch. 

If Ramirez really wants to come back, we haven't seen the last of him. He doesn't bring a lot of on-field value anymore. When you weigh his negatives against the positives, Ramirez has no value. Still, someone will take a chance on him now, hoping Manny can again be the player he once was. 

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