Posted on 03/01/2013 6:27:48 PM PST by nickcarraway
Well-known Dominican-American baseball player Manny Ramirez has agreed, verbally, to play for the EDA Rhinos of Taiwan's Chinese Professional League if he is not going to strike another deal with a US Major League team by March 7, media reports said.
Ramirez said that the EDA Rhinos of the China Professional Baseball League set March 7 as the deadline for a final decision, according to ESPN. EDA Rhinos, formerly known as the Sinon Bulls, will play their first regular-season game on March 17.
"I will play in Taiwan if I cannot get work in the US by that deadline," Ramirez said, when interviewed by ESPN. "It will be a new experience, to experience another culture while I keep doing what I love and what I have done in all my life, playing baseball."
A spokesman for the Rhinos said he did not know about the March 7 deadline, but negotiations about Ramirez's contract, including a potential monthly salary of US$25,000 and accommodation, are reaching the final stage. The baseball team is currently waiting for the results of Ramirez's medical checks before finalizing the procedures.
Weeks ago, Ramirez told ESPNDeportes that he would prefer to wait for an opportunity to play for a MLB team before looking for a job in another country.
Ramirez's agents called almost every team, but nobody was interested, Ramirez reportedly said.
Ramirez said he has no control over the current situation while he thought that showing in the field what he can still do will facilitate his comeback in the MLB, but that has not happened.
"But I'll settle for playing in Taiwan or elsewhere in the summer and winter ball in my country," he said.
Ramirez, 40, batted .312 with 555 homers and 1.831 RBIs in 19 MLB seasons before retiring from baseball in April 2011 after committing a second violation of MLB's drug policy.
What position will Mitt Romney play?
Uh oh, won’t Taiwan tip over after Manny gets there?
Was it John Kerry, when running for president, who said his favorite player on the Red Sox was, “Manny Ortiz.”
They can fall pretty quickly.
Jose Valverde was going to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the world classic but has been dropped from the Roaster.
yeah and papa grande had a perfect save record ...two or three years ago.
He actually said “Manny Ortez”
He didn’t even have an injury or anything. He just lost it all at once.
On the bright side, charges against Tori Hunter’s son were dropped which should be a help to him.
Yeah Tori Hunter should be a great addition for us this year..
And he pronounced it OR-TEZZ, rather than OR-TEEZ. And didn’t he say the Bruins goalie was Tim O’Brien?
Yeah, I know his performance has dropped, but it would be wrong to roast him.
Just Manny bein' Manny
Dear Taiwan: Get ready for the special experience that is life on Planet Manram.
}:-)4
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.