Manny Ramirez Is Back and Has Found God

Manny Ramirez was an embarrassment last year. He played only five games before retiring after he learned he had tested positive for a banned substance for the second time in his major league career. But, his skills started declining way before that. It looked like last year would be the last time Manny Ramirez would ever play Major League Baseball again, but now he is getting a second chance.

The Oakland Athletics have taken a bit of a risk (not that they have much to lose) and signed him on a minor league deal worth $500,000. However, Manny will have to sit out for the first 50 games of the season because of his second positive drug test. It was originally going to be 100 games, but he got it reduced to 50 games when he was reinstated.

Manny claims all of that is in his past,

“I thought I would lose my family and my career. It was not easy. … Sometimes when you don’t got God in your heart, you do stupid things without thinking about it. When you start going to church, it’s like you open your eyes and you realize it doesn’t matter how much money you have, nice house, nice cars. If you don’t have God in your heart, it doesn’t mean anything. Now I appreciate my family more, my kids and the game. I want to show my kids that when there’s problem, you can get up and fix it.”

Well, he is certainly saying all the right things, but has he really changed? Who knows. We’ll found out later this season, though. I have a hard time believing he will be able to contribute. He is only getting older…