As the now-eliminated White Sox come to Anaheim this weekend to play the Angels, Manny Ramirez comes back to southern California (he is not returning to Los Angeles because, despite their name, the Angels don't actually play there) for the first time since leaving the Dodgers for Chicago on a waiver claim.
↵The White Sox claimed Ramirez off waivers from the Dodgers on August 30, at a time they were four games behind Minnesota with 31 to play. They took on approximately $3,825,137 in salary with the hopes that Ramirez would find his groove without the burden of playing the field everyday. It was a worthy gamble. I mean, no player is worth four wins over a month, but getting Ramirez, in theory, was worth a gamble. He didn't have to play the field in Chicago, and he was playing for a contract, so it was reasonable to assume they would get some amount of production from Ramirez.
↵It didn't happen.
↵Ramirez has hit .255/.431/.309, with one home run in 19 games, his only extra-base hit in 72 plate appearances. He has still shown a good eye, with 12 walks, and amazingly has been hit five times so his on-base percentage is high, but he simply hasn't been what the White Sox have hoped for.
↵The White Sox have gone 9-12 since acquiring Manny, but in reality it wouldn't have mattered, as the Twins have been on quite a roll, winning 17 of their final 21 contests. Chicago made a desperate gamble with Manny, but it just didn't pay off in the end.
Loading comments...