When last we saw Manny Ramirez, he was serving as a hitting consultant for the Cubs organization, splitting time between Chicago and Iowa. Before that he was a player/coach — emphasis on the “coach” — for their Triple-A club. Before that he played 49 games in Taiwan.
He has not played in the big leagues since he did a five-game stint for the Rays in 2011. The fact that his big leage career ended in a couple of PED suspensions suggests that, even five years ago, his body was not up to challenge of big league ball anymore.
But it seems he may wish to play pro ball again, at the age of 44. At least so says his wife. She tells TMZ that Manny is in talks with a professional baseball team outside of the United States. And that he’s training super hard:
“He is training extremely hard . . . Batting, CrossFit, Orange Theory. He never stops. I told him, ‘Go for it!’ Baseball is the love of his life other than his family and I totally support him 100% … ’cause I know how much it means for him.”
Ramirez is on the Hall of Fame ballot this year. Will he be on a professional roster someplace too? Related: will it be in a league with a strong anti-drug policy? Just tryin’ to plan for future posts, you guys.
