Photo: Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers --Manny Ramirez hits a home run in a game against the San Diego Padres back on April 30, 2009
It’s official, Manny Ramirez is no longer wearing Dodger blue. In a curt press release today that amounted to about 7 lines, the Dodger organization finally put the seal of truth on all those rumors about Ramirez heading to the Windy City: “The Los Angeles Dodgers announced today that outfielder Manny Ramirez was assigned on a waiver claim to the Chicago White Sox and right-handed pitcher Ramon Troncoso was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to take his spot on the active roster.”
After all the hoopla about Mannywood, those Manny Bobbleheads, and just last month, the P.R. splash from the Dodgers about the slugger donating his red Porsche to charity, it comes down to this. So much for building a relationship between Ramirez and the Dodger fans.
The news of Manny’s departure came on the same day as team owners, Frank and Jamie McCourt, went to court in their bitter divorce and fight over the Dodgers. Maybe by getting rid of Manny, who has been struggling this season, they now have more money to spend on divorce lawyers. He walked into a Los Angeles court with six; she arrived with five. Oh yeah, this divorce and legal battle over the team is costing millions. They reportedly saved $3.8 million by unloading Ramirez at this time.
The McCourts court battle will be great fodder for the media, but how much damage will it do to the team, the players, and the fan base? If Ramirez has lost his batting mojo then perhaps getting rid of him before the end of the season will be viewed later as a skillful bit of management. However, if the slugger gets a second wind and begins to hit home runs for his new team, a whole lot of Dodger fans are going to be very unhappy with this decision.
