Tied with Josh Hamilton for the major league lead at 99 before tonight’s action, Miguel Cabrera struck first Tuesday, knocking in two runs in the Tigers’ 8-4 defeat of the Twins. Hamilton was held without an RBI as the Rangers were shutout by the Yankees. Still just 29 years old, Cabrera now has nine 100-RBI…
Manny Ramirez recently worked out for the Oakland A’s in Florida, sources tell MLB.com’s Jane Lee. The A’s are reported to have a strong interest in signing the free agent slugger to a one-year deal worth slightly more than the league minimum of $480,000, according to the Associated Press.
If he signs, Ramirez wouldn’t be eligible to play for the A’s until at least May 30, as he still needs to serve a 50-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He tested positive for a banned substance five games into the 2011 season after signing with the Tampa Bay Rays. He opted to retire rather than serve a 100-game suspension, which Major League Baseball eventually reduced by half.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Former baseball star Manny Ramirez has pleaded not guilty to a domestic battery charge involving his wife.
Ramirez’s attorney filed the written plea ahead of Friday’s scheduled arraignment. Ramirez did not appear at the hearing. He is free on $2,500 bail.
The 2004 World Series MVP was arrested Sept. 12. His wife told investigators Ramirez slapped her, causing her head to strike a bed headboard. Ramirez has denied slapping her.
Ramirez helped lead the Boston Red Sox to the 2004 championship, ending an 86-year drought for the franchise. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.
He retired in April from the Tampa Bay Rays rather than serve a 100-game suspension after testing positive a second time for a performance-enhancing substance.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Former World Series MVP Manny Ramirez, who retired in April after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, hopes to play for a winter league team in his Caribbean homeland.
Winston Llenas, president of the Cibao Eagles, a winter league team in the northern Dominican Republic for whom Ramirez played in 1993-94, told The Associated Press during a Tuesday phone interview that Ramirez is expected to start training with his former team next week.
Llenas said the 39-year-old Ramirez told team officials he wants to “play before the Dominican fans and to perhaps motivate other Major League stars to also play in the country.”
Ramirez retired in April after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance while with the Tampa Bay Rays. Rather than face a 100-game suspension for a second violation of Major League Baseball’s drug policy, the 12-time All-Star left the game.
Ramirez previously served a 50-game ban in 2009 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
His first positive test – for human chorionic gonadotropin, a banned female fertility drug often used to help mask steroid use – would not prevent him from playing in the Dominican Republic.
Ramirez last played in the Dominican winter league during that 1993-94 season with the Eagles.
He also is facing criminal prosecution in Florida on charges that he slapped his wife during a recent argument. He told investigators only that he grabbed his wife by the shoulders during an argument and “shrugged” her, causing her to hit her head on the headboard of their bed.
Ramirez was named MVP of the World Series in 2004 and helped the Boston Red Sox end an 86-year title drought.
© 2011 The Associated Press
WESTON, Fla. — Former World Series MVP Manny Ramirez was arrested Monday after a domestic dispute at his South Florida home and charged with battery, police said.
Ramirez, 39, and his wife were arguing in their bedroom when he slapped her face, causing her to hit her head on their bed’s headboard, according to a police report. She told the deputy she was afraid the situation would escalate and called police.
Ramirez denied hitting his wife, according to the report, telling a deputy she hit her head after he “shrugged” her. Ramirez’s wife had injuries consistent with her story, but did not want medical treatment.
Ramirez retired in April from the Tampa Bay Rays after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. Rather than face a 100-game suspension for a second violation of Major League Baseball’s drug policy, the 12-time All-Star left the game.
Ramirez previously served a 50-game ban in 2009 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Second-time offenders get double that penalty.
One of the games great sluggers, Ramirez was named MVP of the World Series in 2004 and helped Boston end an 86-year title drought.
He was selected 13th overall by the Cleveland Indians in the 1991 amateur draft and rose quickly through the minor leagues with a youthful exuberance and natural charisma.
He broke into the majors in 1993 and played his first full season the following year, when he finished second to the Royals’ Bob Hamlin in voting for Rookie of the Year. Ramirez went on to establish himself as one of the game’s most feared hitters, adopting a dreadlock hairdo that seemed to mirror his happy-go-lucky demeanor.
He signed with the Red Sox as a free agent in December 2000, helping the long-suffering franchise win the World Series a few years later, then doing it again in 2007.
The Red Sox traded him to the Dodgers in July 2008. He instantly became a fan favorite on the West Coast, with “Mannywood” signs popping up around town, as he led Los Angeles to the NL West title and a sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the playoffs. The clutch performances earned Ramirez a $45 million, two-year contract.
All that good will fizzled the following May, when Ramirez tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin, a banned female fertility drug often used to help mask steroid use.
Ramirez played in only five games for the Rays, with one hit in 17 at-bats.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney. Jail records did not list one for him. A woman who answered the phone at a home listing for Ramirez said it was the wrong number and hung up.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
The cash-strapped Dodgers are still on the hook for payments of $8.33 million each of the next three years to former slugger Manny Ramirez, the next one due by June 30, according to a source cited Monday by ESPN The Magazine.
Ramirez is due the payments, deferred money from the $42 million contract he signed with Los Angeles before the 2009 season, even though the team traded him to the White Sox last year.
Ramirez, who signed with the Tampa Bay Rays this spring, retired in April after failing his second drug test in three seasons.
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt—struggling to keep control of the team as he and his ex-wife, Jamie, battle over division of their assets—had to draw advances against the team’s corporate sponsorship deals to meet his June 1 payroll obligations.
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Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez are returning to the AL East.
The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to terms with both former All-Stars. Damon agreed to a one-year deal worth $5.25 million plus incentives tied to attendance, and Ramirez one year at $2 million. Both deals are pending physicals.
Ramirez and Damon played together for four years in Boston and won a championship. Will be interesting to see just how much longer these two can produce at their ages.
Read more at SI.com