Billy Beane Talks Manny Ramirez

Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane told Joe Stiglich of MercuryNews.com that he is not ready to cut ties with veteran slugger Manny Ramirez yet. While Beane and the A’s aren’t planning on releasing Ramirez, the GM said he has no indication when Manny might be ready to be called up.

When the A’s signed Ramirez back in late February, their hope was that the 40-year-old slugger would be primed to help the big league club once his 50-game suspension ended. This suspension concluded late last month, and Ramirez was eligible to join the A’s on May 30.

At his point, Ramirez is continuing to play for Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate. Over his 11 games and 37 at-bats, Ramirez has only mustered a line of .243/.300/.243 with no extra-base hits and 10 strikeouts.

Beane told Stiglich that until Ramirez is on the field on a regular basis and the A’s are able to see where he’s at from a baseball standpoint, the club will not be in a position to make a decision. Beane said so far Ramirez and his representation have given no indication that the 19-year major league vet is ready to give up on his comeback attempt.

When asked if it was disappointing that Ramirez isn’t contributing for the A’s yet, Beane said that he wasn’t sure if disappointing is the right word. From day one Beane told Stiglich that the A’s viewed the Ramirez deal as having no downside, only upside.

At this point, Beane and the A’s want to make sure there is still upside.