The Los Angeles Dodgers have had enough of Manny Ramirez's on and off the field antics. The struggling Dodgers have been in the news a lot lately for their ownership problems and closing pitching woes made headline again, over the weekend when they placed the 12 time all-star on waivers, waiting for a team to claim them and Monday Chicago did.
The White Sox claimed Ramirez in a straight waiver claim on Monday and he could see action for the Sox as early as Tuesday. His last at bat for the Dodgers came on Sunday in Colorado and ended in typical “Manny being Manny” fashion. He was used as a pinch hitter and when the first pitch looked a bit outside Ramirez decided to let the umpire know exactly how he felt.
He was then tossed out of the game and he soon found out he was tossed out of Dodger blue.
Ramirez lost his starting job to Scott Podsednik last month after the Dodgers claimed Podsednik from the White Sox while Ramirez spend his third stint on the disabled list this season.
The 38-year-old Ramirez was embraced as a rock star when he came to L.A. in a three team trade from Boston in 2008. He got his own Mannywood sign in left field, fake dreadlocks souvenirs and a hefty new contract. But Ramirez's popularity quickly dwindled due to injuries, a poor work ethic and a 50 game suspension last season for taking steroids.
Now with the Dodgers trailing the division by ten games and the wild card by six and a half games and their playoff hopes seem all but lost, the team wanted to dump Ramirez's remaining two-year, $45 million contract which ends this season. Chicago agreed in the waiver pickup to pay the rest of his salary for this season but will need to resign Ramirez if they want to keep him around next year.
So now Ramirez is leaving Mannywood for Chicago’s south side. The White Sox could certainly use Ramirez's bat down the stretch. The White Sox have lost nine of 14 and 13 of 20 and are currently four and a half games behind the division leading Minnesota Twins.
This season Ramirez has managed to hit .311 with 8 home runs and 40 RBI's.
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