Rangers designated hitter Lance Berkman is remains on the disabled list, but they still weren’t impressed enough by Manny Ramirez to give him a shot in the majors and instead have released the 41-year-old from Triple-A.
Ramirez hit .259 with three homers and a .698 OPS in 30 games for Round Rock, including a measly .282 slugging percentage in 22 games since the All-Star break.
As general manager Jon Daniels explained to reporters in announcing the move: “Based on our evaluation, there was not a spot on the club for Manny at this time.” And since “this time” for a 41-year-old tends to be as good as things are ever going to be again, it’s probably safe to say the door is shut on Ramirez’s big-league career.
Ramirez has obviously become a sideshow recently, but if he’s done he finishes as a .312 career hitter with 555 homers and 1,329 walks in 2,302 games for the ninth-best OPS in baseball history. Laugh all you want, but the guy was an absolute monster for 15 seasons.