2015

When Ramirez joined the Cubs' Triple-A team as a player/coach in July, Theo Epstein made it clear to him that while he'd get sporadic playing time, he was there primarily to pass along his vast hitting knowledge to the team's precocious prospects, and he had zero chance of being called up. By all accounts Ramirez's coaching was a rousing success, enriching three of the Cubs' best prospects—Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Jorge Soler. While Ramirez proved that he may have a future in coaching (get in your time machine, find yourself 10 years ago, and show them this comment; beware of heart attacks!), he's never wavered from his desire to return to a big-league lineup. The quirky 43-year-old hasn't made an active roster since 2011, but has flatly stated that will change this season. Being realistic is boring, so let's just wish him luck.

2014

Unfortunately for legendary batsman Manny Ramirez, "Manny being Manny" these days means a month-long stint in Triple-A with a mid-.300s slugging percentage.

2012

Everyone's favorite idiot showed a new level of stupidity by violating baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy for the second time. Manny's bay area retreat lasted only slightly longer than the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba as Ramirez retired rather than sit out 100 games. We would have written a goodbye to Manny in this slot, except that MLB reinstated Ramirez from the voluntary retirement list in December, and reduced his suspension to 50 games in the sports equivalent of "time served." Will a PED-free, 39-year-old Manny with a 50-game suspension yet to serve be tempting to any big-league GM?

2011

If you were wondering when "Manny being Manny" was going to be reduced to a reality TV parody of itself, his Mannyness' 2010 season could certainly get you thinking. He delivered career-low isolated power and home-run-per-fly-ball marks despite getting to spend a good chunk of the season in one of the most righty-friendly parks on the planet. That said, he was also less than 100 percent all year, so it's hard to say the Sox got the contents listed on the packaging: Manny dealt with calf and hamstring issues for most of the year before requiring an off-season hernia repair. Speculating over whether he can go back to being a bopper and less a figure of sports infotainment depends on the assumptions that he will be healthy and go someplace where he'll feel excited about playing. Both are possible, and his fielding isn't quite so awful that he should only DH from here on out; there's just the question of whether the 39-year-old risks injury doing anything more than what he's always done best: putting runs on the board.

2010

Despite the lovefest Ramirez inspired in Mannywood in late 2008, the Dodgers played hardball during his free agency, waiting out Scott Boras, the tepid economy, and the market\'s glut of corner outfielders into early March before signing Ramirez to a two-year, $45 million deal with an opt-out clause prior to year two. Ramirez resumed his torrid pace once the season opened, batting .348/.492/.641 through May 6, but the honeymoon ended when he was handed a 50-game suspension for a prescription for a female fertility drug often used to mask steroids. Greeted with open arms by most Dodger fans upon returning, Ramirez continued to terrorize pitchers, but his performance took a significant downturn after a Homer Bailey fastball hit his left wrist on July 21. Manny hit just .255/.380/.448 the rest of the way, his strikeout rate increased from 15 percent of plate appearances to 21 percent, and his BABIP dropped from .369 to .302. That dip, along with a leak implicating him as one of the players on the 2004 survey testing list, chilled the market for his services and led to his choosing not to opt out. Unless he can recapture some of his initial magic, expect reports of his act wearing thin to abound.

2009

A villain in Beantown, a hero in Tinseltown, Ramirez was the game’s most controversial player in 2008. His efforts to get the Red Sox to exercise the first of his two $20 million options generated a firestorm of accusations from teammates, club officials, and some of the industry’s most powerful writers that he faked injuries and ultimately quit on his team, as though he were some mutant cross between Derek Bell and the second coming of Hal Chase—never mind the fact that he hit .347/.473/.587 in July as this drama unfolded. The Manny Show came to LA and provided a much-needed jolt to a flagging Dodger offense whose scoring rose from 4.17 runs per game to 4.63, helping them blow past the Diamondbacks to win the West. Facing pitchers who had more idea how to split the atom than to pitch to him, Ramirez used the whole field much more than in his Fenway days, doing absurd things like flirting with .400 and bashing towering opposite-field homers in Petco. Despite his production, the reports of his pre-trade antics, Team Boras’ aggressive negotiating stance and the slow economy combined to suppress the market for his services. At this writing, he\'s still adrift, \"Manny being Manny\" costing him millions in lost contract offers.

2008

So much attention is paid to the silly things Ramirez does that it's hard both to keep them in context and to properly identify the ones that actually hurt the team. In the postseason, he made some very smart plays on the bases, then got thrown out at home because he was too busy playing with his helmet while running. What's fundamental is that he is in decline and, given his negative defensive value, could have a limited amount of time left in his Hall of Fame career.

2007

Babe Ruth (.366), Ted Williams (.364), Barry Bonds (.356), Lou Gehrig (.345), Albert Pujols (.343), Frank Thomas (.342), Mickey Mantle (.341), Rogers Hornsby (.335), Mark McGwire (.335). Those are the top nine hitters in major league baseball history according to Equivalent Average. Number ten is Manny Ramirez (.334). For all the bitching about his indifference in the field and the legitimacy of the patellar tendonitis that limited him to 33 PA over the season`s final six weeks, he`s still as good a hitter as any team could possibly hope for, and his role of protecting David Ortiz in the lineup is part of what enables Big Papi`s heroics. Still, the annual `Trade Manny` melodrama began during his absence from the lineup, and continued unabated through the Winter Meetings. With `only` $40 million due him over the next two years and a ton of new money being tossed around, chances are better than ever that he finally leaves Beantown, but Sox fans tired of Manny Being Manny should be careful what they wish for.

2006

Yawn. The usual mid-season soap opera marred Ramirez`s typical Hall of Fame offensive season. Ramirez started slowly, but his problems were almost solely due to his uncharacteristic inability to hit left-handed pitchers. He was hitting just .163/.290/.314 in 86 at bats at the All-Star break against southpaws, before rebounding to hit .316/.433/.759 against them in the second half (for the season he was .236/.358/.527). He has been passed by David Ortiz in the hearts of Red Sox Nation, but Ramirez remains unsurpassed among AL hitters.

2005

Halfway through the guaranteed portion of Ramirez's contract, he's still putting up some of the best offensive numbers in the league, $160 million contract or not. His OBP dipped below .400 for the first time since 1998, but in a season where he whacked 43 home runs and 87 extra-base hits, that's really nitpicking. His defense is what it is, though with Fenway's limited real estate in left and Jesus in center, there's no better outfield spot in which to put a lousy defender. Expect more of the same in 2005.

2004

Although his contract is a quaint reminder of an age gone by, Manny's production has not ebbed. He took some heat in New England for driving in "only" 104 runs, though critics conveniently ignored Grady Little's stacking of the team's three worst OBPs at the top of the lineup. Little was given a lot of credit for his "handling" of Ramirez, but Manny had the same year he always has. Ramirez's manager should count on an annual off-the-field incident, like last September's "head cold," and an occasional jog down to first base on a ground ball. He should also be able to count on someone who shows up early to look at film, works hard on his defense takes hours of extra batting practice, and is one of the top 10 hitters in baseball every year.

2003

Manny missed five weeks with a broken left index finger, struggled in his rehab assignment, then hit 14–63 with averages of .222/.329/.302 in the three weeks following his return. Despite this handicap, he finished the season as one of the team’s top offensive performers. If he can stay healthy for an entire season, expect 45 HR and a bid for the league MVP. While he is frequently criticized by the Boston media for his baserunning mishaps, he’s a true student of hitting and works as hard as anybody on this art.

2002

After an MVP-level start to the season, Ramirez tailed off badly after May and never found his groove again. Nagging hamstring problems cropped up, and various reports indicated that he was upset by the discord and malaise in the clubhouse. A winning season would likely cure that very quickly, and there’s no reason to expect Manny not to return to his early-2001 form. The Sox will need him to do so if they expect to catch the Yanks.

2001

Manny Ramirez became the Indians’ slugging version of what Lenny Dykstra was to the Phillies in the early ’90s: without him, they’re a pretty crummy team. Now that he’s in Boston, do you want to bet he’ll have a bigger impact on the 2001 playoff picture than Alex Rodriguez? He may not fix the Red Sox’s problems against left-handed pitching by himself; even with one of the best lefty-killers around, the Tribe finished last season with an even worse record than did the Sox against southpaws. Replacing 120 games of Manny Ramirez with 120 games of Ellis Burks will cost the Indians a good 40 runs.

2000

Ramirez is the player who gets picked on as the front man for Mike Hargrove’s hands-off management style and the sloppiness it came to represent. That’s similar to the things that used to be said about Davey Johnson and Darryl Strawberry in the 1980s. It’s mostly another case of “tear down the star” for fun and headlines. Ramirez is one of the game’s best hitters in his prime, and he’s underrated in the field. The big question is whether new owner Larry Dolan will pay top dollar to keep him, because if there’s someone the Indians ought to be paying, it isn’t an Alomar or Jim Thome, it’s Ramirez.

1998

You already know he can hit. Just keep in mind he’s only 26, even though he’s had four seasons in the majors. Fully capable of an MVP season at the plate, with defense that is just bad enough to get more attention than it deserves. May never get the recognition his production warrants.

1997

For whatever reason, Ramirez gets belittled in the press for imagined weight problems, which one way or another haven’t affected his hitting. Like Canseco or Strawberry, he also gets put down on defense far more than his actual skill justifies. Ramirez has an excellent throwing arm and enough range to survive; he’s hardly a Sierra or Nieves in right field. One of Manny’s best accomplishments this past season was his major improvement against right-handers.

1996

In one of the biggest bargains of the off-season, Manny signed a 4-year contract, with a club option for a fifth, for "just" $10 million. A fabulous package, hitting for average and power while taking the walks. Absolutely destroys left-handed pitching (.358/.448/.612 over two seasons).