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Will Manny Ramirez Get on a Baseball Field Before Athletics do?

Manny Ramirez, whose last MLB roster spot was with the Athletics in 2012, is lobbying for a job as a player-coach in Taiwan, where they are already playing baseball.
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The most improbable Oakland A’s player is trying now to become the most improbable player on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

The last time Ramirez, a 12-time all-star and former batting average and RBI champion, was on a big-league roster, it was with Oakland. Now, eight years later, he says he wants to become a player-coach in Taiwan.

It was back in 2012 that the A’s took a flier on the then-39-year-old 12-time All-Star outfielder, signing him knowing that he had to serve a 50-game PED suspension. He made the big-league roster with a spring that saw him well enough to justify the $500,000 contract he’d been offered.

He dutifully went to Triple-A Sacramento to serve out his suspension, but played in just 17 games. While his average, .302 was decent, he didn’t hit any homers for the River Cats and he wasn’t promoted when he the 50 games were up. He asked for his release shortly thereafter, and never made it onto a big-league roster again, although he played in the minor leagues with both the Rangers and Cubs.

He played briefly in Taiwan’s CPBL for the EDA Rhinos (now known as the Fubon Guardians) in 2013, and was an instant hit, owning a .352 batting average with eight homers and 43 RBI in 49 games. He left midseason, however, because he wanted to be with his family. It was then that he signed a minor league deal with the Rangers.

Now he wants to head back across the Pacific, this time as a player-coach. In an interview with The Taiwan Times, he said his goal at age 48 “is to find a roster spot in the CPBL).”

“I have been itching to get back in the batter’s box and be able to compete again,” Ramirez told the newspaper. “I also miss being around teammates and team dinners post-game.

“I know if I was given the opportunity to come in an organization as a player-coach, it would do great things for the organization and the league.”

The CPBL was the first pro baseball league globally to start up play after the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic shut all sports down. They are playing, but without fans in the stands.

The CPBL is currently the only baseball league operating, although the Korean pro league is playing exhibition games with a projected start date of May 4.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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