Manny Ramirez May Play in Japan in 2017

At 44 years old, Manny Ramirez is still looking to play baseball in 2017 and is currently negotiating with the Kochi Fighting Dogs.

Manny Ramirez last played in the Major Leagues in 2011. He had a wild ride in the big leagues for 19 years before retiring and the wild ride has continued since. Before the 2011 season, Ramirez signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. He and former Red Sox teammate Johnny Damon were a package deal, sold by superagent Scott Boras (buyer beware!). Manny hit well in spring training, but struggled to start the year. He was 1 for 17 in five regular season games. Then he abruptly retired.

It turned out that Manny retired rather than face a 100-game suspension for his second violation of MLBs’ PED-use policy. The retirement didn’t last long, though. In December of 2011, it was announced that an agreement had been reached between MLB and the Players Association that Ramirez would need to serve only 50 games of the original 100-game suspension.

Ramirez signed with the Oakland Athletics in February of 2012. Because of the suspension, he started the year with the Sacramento River Cats, where he hit .302 but with a weak .349 slugging percentage and not a single home run. His 50-game suspension was cleared at the end of May, but Manny requested and was given his outright release by the A’s in mid-June.

That fall, he played in the Dominican Professional Baseball League for the Aguilas Cibaenas. He hit .293/.360/.434, which ranked him third on the team in OPS for players with 100 or more plate appearances (behind Hector Luna and the late Oscar Taveras).

Live Feed

House That Hank Built

Ramirez took his talents to Taiwan for the 2013 season when he played for the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Through 49 games, Ramirez was among the leaders in the Triple Crown categories, hitting .352 with 8 home runs and 43 RBI. Despite the success, Ramirez opted out of his contract after 49 games, saying he wanted to be closer to his family.

It turned out that Texas was the location deemed “closer to his family”. Ramirez signed with the Texas Rangers organization and was assigned to the Round Rock Express in Triple-A. He played 30 games with Round Rock and hit .259/.328/.370, but was released in mid-August because of a notable decrease in bat speed.

In 2014, it was the Chicago Cubs who had a place for Ramirez. He signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in May to be a player-coach for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. He is credited with helping prospects Arismendy Alcantara and Javier Baez with their swings and actually became a mentor for Baez when Baez lost his uncle. He hit .222/.273/.375 in 77 games before hurting his knee in August. His season was over.

Over the winter, Ramirez was back playing in the Dominican Winter League. He hit .313/.409/.510 for the Aquilas Cibaenas, finishing second on the team in OPS for players with 100 or more plate appearances (Dan Black was first). In February of 2015, the Chicago Cubs hired Ramirez as a batting consultant. He split time between Chicago and Triple-A Iowa.

The next stop on Manny Ramirez’ long baseball journey looks like it will be in the Shikoku Island League Plus. It’s being reported that the Kochi Fighting Dogs are in contact with Ramirez and are negotiating a likely one-year deal. The Shikoki Island League Plus is an independent league with headquarters in Takamatsu. The Fighting Dogs have been in the league since 2005. It would never fly here, but the name Fighting Dogs is derived from the well-known dog fighting tradition of the city of Kochi. A team in the U.S. could never get away with a name that represents dog fighting. Sure, Redskins is okay, but dog-fighting would be a big no-no.

Manny Ramirez will be 45 years old next May, but he still wants to play baseball. You can’t really blame him for that. Even at the advanced (baseball) age of 45, he’s not even close to the legendary Julio Franco, who played for the Ishikawa Million Stars of the semi-professional Baseball Challenge League last year. The 57-year-old Franco was a player-manager for the Million Stars.

Next: Phillies check in on J.D. Martinez

While he considers playing professionally in Japan, Manny Ramirez is in the news here because it’s his first year of eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Based on Baseball-Reference WAR, Ramirez is the seventh-best player on the ballot, behind Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling, Jeff Bagwell, and Larry Walker. He’s just ahead of Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez, and Edgar Martinez. Of course, because of the two PED-suspensions during his career, it will be a long time before Ramirez makes the Baseball Hall of Fame.