For fans who miss the antics of Manny Ramirez, commonly known as "Manny being Manny," the Texas Rangers have bad news. Ramirez isn't all that close to being brought up to the big leagues.
A scout who recently watched Ramirez at Triple A Round Rock told Yahoo! Sports, "This isn't Manny Ramirez. This is a 41-year-old still trying to play baseball and not doing it very well."
Indeed Ramirez's numbers at Triple A are not particularly impressive. He's batting .250 with three home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored in 66 plate appearances. His OPS at Triple A is just .735 as well, showing that the line drive drilling Manny of old hasn't shown up yet. It is possible that the version of Ramirez that helped the Boston Red Sox end "The Curse of the Bambino" is gone forever.
Ramirez hasn't had an MLB at-bat since since 2011, when he appeared in 17 games for the Tampa Bay Rays before retiring to avoid a 100-game suspension for a second violation of MLB's steroid policy. In those 17 games Manny was putrid, hitting .059 with no home runs and one lonely RBI.
It is possible that despite his poor production in his last MLB stint, as well as his middling performance in Triple A could be ignored. The Rangers may be forced to call him up since regular designated hitter Lance Berkman is out with a hip injury that has him considering retirement, and they could lose outfielder Nelson Cruz any day now.
Cruz's name has shown up on the list of Biogenesis clinic clients believed to have purchased performance enhancing drugs from clinic founder Anthony Bosch. Former National League MVP Ryan Braun has already accepted a season-ending suspension thanks to the Biogenesis scandal, and MLB is said to be pursuing a lengthy suspension for Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
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