We covered Manny Ramirez’s retirement from all angles here Friday, but I had one lingering question about the whole situation: Why did Ramirez retire rather than simply serve his impending 100-game suspension?
After all, if he served the suspension Ramirez could have conceivably returned to the Rays’ lineup in August and September. And even if the Rays wanted nothing to do with him, serving the suspension would at least get it out of the way should he somehow find another gig late this season or in 2012. Why not let the 100 games burn off just in case?
He wouldn’t have gotten paid during a suspension and forfeited his salary anyway by retiring, so perhaps Ramirez was informed of the coming suspension and basically just said, “Aw, screw it, I’m done.” And that certainly makes sense. By retiring he can also claim, technically, that he wasn’t suspended. For whatever that’s worth.
However, if Ramirez ever decides to make a comeback and beats the odds by actually convincing one of the 25 or so teams he hasn’t pissed off already to sign him, he’ll now have to sit out 100 games first. Which probably takes the odds of a comeback from 1 percent to .01 percent.
I understand the impulse of wanting to wash his hands of the entire situation and just be done with everything, but if the money is the same and the impact of not playing is the same, what is the upside of choosing immediate retirement over a 100-game suspension?
