Last season, one of the Oakland Raiders' biggest issues was the outside linebacker position opposite of Kamerion Wimbley. Both Quentin Groves and Aaron Curry were lackluster. Curry, who the Raiders acquired midseason, had a decent year, but it was nothing to brag about. It's definitely a place the Raiders can improve on, and it's probable that they will. They can go about this problem a couple of ways.The first is keep what they already have. Curry and Groves both have great potential. Curry was touted as one of the best defensive players of his draft class, going fourth overall to ...
Stanford Routt has been making news because of his decision to join the Kansas City Chiefs.Let's just say he was cut from the Raiders and his addition to the Chiefs will add fuel to the fire that heats up the intense rivalry between the teams. There have been many connections between the Chiefs and the Raiders. A few examples are listed.In 1999, Rich Gannon left Kansas City and became a Raider. In 2000, Andre Rison went to Oakland after leaving Kansas City. Tom Flores—one of my favorite coaches—left Kansas City and eventually became the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. ...
Manny is back and could be a great steal for the Oakland Athletics.Ramirez signed a minor league deal with Oakland that will give him a chance to serve out his 50-game suspension while helping mentor young outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and providing some power to the Athletics' lineup.It's true: no one really knows what Manny has left. He was awful in his 2010 stint with the Chicago White Sox and was then suspended by Major League Baseball early last season when he violated the drug rules for the third time. It was "Manny being Manny" in the worst way.Yet this signing ...
Yesterday, the Oakland Athletics agreed to a one-year deal with Manny Ramirez that could be worth $500,000 next season.Manny is expected to serve as the DH for the A's for the latter two-thirds of the season. He must first serve a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy for a second time. Keep in mind, shortly after he was found to violate the policy last season, he abruptly retired from baseball.Some question if Ramirez will still be able to produce at the major league level. He turns 40 this year on May 30, and has not played professional ...
The Oakland A's signing of Manny Ramirez to a $500,000 Minor League deal has brought strong reactions from fans.In reality, the addition of the 39-year-old slugger is no big deal.The last time we saw Ramirez, he failed his second drug test and was facing a 100-game suspension. Since he missed an entire season, his suspension has been reduced to 50 games.In his last two seasons, Ramirez has only played in 29 games and hit one home run. His batting average was down from his career numbers with his average at .261 with the Chicago White Sox in 2010.In a small ...
Billy Beane must have loved TinkerToys when he was a kid. Actually, no, maybe that's not true. It had to be harder to calculate the OPS+ for a TinkerToy than for today's toys.Did you know Manny Ramirez has a career OPS of .996 with an OPS+ of 154? Yes, both those numbers include the five-game, 17 plate-appearance stint with the Tampa Bay Rays last season before seemingly quitting the game instead of facing his second suspension for failing a drug test. Still, both numbers are awesome. Was last year a final sign of decline for Manny, or was it a bad fit ...
Me, myself and I have always been the only three people on the planet that newly signed Oakland A’s Manny Ramirez has ever cared about. And baseball fans, not only in Oakland but around the country, should be dreading what this dastardly designated hitter will do next in his unexpected return to Major League Baseball. Yesterday, the oft-maligned, mercurial Manny made many murmur when the Dominican-born slugger inked a $500,000 per year minor league contract with the Oakland A’s, his sixth and hopefully last major league team. The recalcitrant Ramirez’s return to MLB was met with the same mix of cynicism ...
Early today it was announced that the maligned slugger, Manny Ramirez, signed a one-year minor league contract with the Oakland A's, for what will be worth $500,000 if Man-Ram sticks with the big league club.There have been some mixed sentiments about signing Manny within the Oakland clubhouse. Ramirez's former teammates, Bartolo Colon and Coco Crisp are both happy with the move.However, there has also been some negative feedback on the signing, as one player expressed concerns over Manny taking away at-bats from the younger players that will be with the team for the long term.If we were to assume that ...
Manny Ramirez might be one of the five greatest hitters of the last 20 years. In 19 seasons, he's a career .312 hitter with a .996 OPS, 555 home runs, 1831 RBI and 1544 runs scored. But he will be a resounding flop in Oakland, for some of the same reasons why he was a catastrophic failure in Tampa Bay, despite Joe Maddon filling spring training headlines with rumors of a "new, happy, Manny" and a change in attitude. At the end of the day, Manny Ramirez has become Brett Favre in the sense that he missed his exit. There was a ...
Manny Ramirez has signed with the Oakland Athletics, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. But even though it's a low-risk minor league invite with a maximum contract worth $500,000, A's fans should hate this signing. There's no arguing Oakland needs help with attendance numbers. There's no arguing Ramirez won't dramatically increase those numbers. Risk-wise, the move makes sense. Publicity-wise, the move makes sense. Entertainment-wise, it still makes sense. It doesn't mean fans need to be happy about it. There are many reasons A's fans shouldn't be too pleased with this signing at all.Begin Slideshow