The Buzz: Manny Ramirez

A major impacting move happened yesterday at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers. who activated slugging Left Fielder Manny Ramirez from the Disabled List Saturday, and presumably will place him on waivers in the near future. Ramirez, who received a lot of interest at the non waiver trading deadline, will likely be with a new team before the waiver trading period concludes. Back in July the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox were the two aggressive teams that went after Manny Ramirez.

It appears that the Tampa Bay Rays may have the biggest need for Ramirez at this point in the season. As of now, the Rays have Willy Aybar and Matt Joyce splitting time as their designated hitter. Combined the Two are hitting .235 with 11 home runs and 65 RBI’s. Ramirez who has been on and off the disabled list this year is still hitting .312 with 8 home runs and 39 RBI’s. So numbers wise Ramirez would be an upgrade over the platoon of Aybar and Joyce for the Rays designated hitter. Another reason why the Rays may look to acquire Ramirez is because his experience in the playoffs and familiarity with playing American League East teams. The Rays are still a very young team, which is why adding Manny Ramirez would give them a veteran that could lead them as they get deeper into the playoffs.

The Chicago White Sox may have made the biggest push to get Manny Ramirez at the end of July. As they came up with a creative offer where  they would have taken Manny Ramirez off the Dodgers hand by offering to pay $5MM of the remaining $6MM on his contract. The Dodgers obviously said no to the offer, because one they wanted prospects in return, and they weren’t desperate to move Ramirez at the time. It is uncertain if the White Sox would still have interest in Manny, but they could claim him to block a team like the Twins from getting him. At this point, the White Sox’s biggest need is not for a power hitter but for a reliever. But, considering that the relief market is dry they could look to add more offensive help in the form of Manny Ramirez.

Much like the Red Sox did in the middle of the 2008 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are beginning to grow frustrated with Manny Ramirez. Some speculated that it all could have started in spring training, when Manny said right away that he would not be returning to the Dodgers in 2011. And then after battling injuries for most of the season and the Dodgers being virtually out of contention, it is looking more and more likely that Manny Ramirez will be with a new team before the end of August. Whatever team he goes has to be willing to accept the type of character Manny Ramirez is. If it does not benefit him, Manny Ramirez will probaby not take part of it. As we saw in Boston, and sort of Los Angeles, Manny Ramirez cares about himself over the team. But given the fact that he still is a legitimate offensive threat, it makes sense that teams like the Rays and White Sox would want him for playoff contention.