By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
LOS ANGELES -- Major League Baseball suspended Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez for 50 games on Thursday for use of performance enhancing drugs.
Major League Baseball made an official announcement shortly after noon ET.
Ramirez, who turns 37 on May 30, will begin the suspension with Thursday night's Dodgers-Nationals game. He would be eligible to return around July 3, depending on rainouts.
Ramirez -- an 12-time All-Star who immediately became the face of the Dodgers franchise upon his acquisition last summer -- is the biggest name player to be issued a 50-game suspension under the MLB's more stringent drug policy that was adopted in 2006.
According to the drug policy, a player receives a 50-game suspension for a first positive drug test, a 100-game suspension for a second positive test and a lifetime ban for a third positive test. The suspensions are without pay.
Ramirez re-signed with the Dodgers as a free agent this spring to a two-year contract that was to pay him $25 million.
Ramirez has been a key component in leading the Dodgers to the best record in baseball this year. In 27 games, he is batting .348 with six home runs and 20 RBIs. He is among league leaders in slugging and on-base percentage and has become the biggest drawing card the Dodgers have had since Fernando Valenzuela, even recently having a portion of the left-field box seats rechristened "Mannywood."
Juan Pierre would be the immediate replacement for Ramirez in left field, while the Dodgers are expected to promote rookie Xavier Paul from Triple-A Albuqueruque to replace Ramirez on the active roster.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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Time to see if the young core can seize the moment and play up to their abilities. I have no doubt in my mind that Xavier Paul should be starting over Juan Pierre in left field.
How will McCourt react to all of this? Will the Dodgers shun him or will they welcome him back to the team after the 50 games? If and when Manny comes back, how much of his previous success will be attributed to the PED's? And will he still produce like he did before the failed test? Obviously his Hall of Fame status is in serious doubt.
Dodger fans can hold out hope that Manny's side of the story will check out.
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2 comments:
The Mannywood promotion just took a giant dump. Likely see those commercials pulled. I was wondering how the McCourts are going to fair at the end of all this...save ~8 mill from suspension w/o pay, but lose on attendance, promotions, merchandise. Not sure why I'm thinking about the McCourts at a time like this. Don't think I've accepted reality yet.
I hopped on craigslist right away to see if I could score some cheap Mannywood deals. The entire section was full at the game the other night.
You'll be hit with this when Juan Pierre GIDP's for the next 50.
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