NEWSLETTER
The Iowa Cubs get to make the announcement themselves:
Manny Ramirez to join Iowa Cubs for four-game series at Colorado Springs. Will be on active roster and available for Thursday games.
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) June 25, 2014
We first heard the shocking news that the Cubs had signed Manny Ramirez to be a player/coach at AAA Iowa all the way back in late May. Immediately, there was a deluge of reactions, opinions, quotes, etc., but then there wasn’t much said. In the interim, Ramirez has been getting into baseball shape in Mesa, Arizona, while simultaneously working with some of the Cubs’ young players there.
And now, he’ll get a chance to join Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Arismendy Alcantara, and many more at AAA. It’ll be fun to see Ramirez play, but it’ll be even more fun to know about the possible impact he could have on the development of some of the Cubs’ most important future players. Ramirez was always a relaxed monster in the box, and it would be incredible if he could imprint just a tiny bit of that on the Cubs’ big bats.
The Cubs have said, by the way, that Ramirez will not play for the big league club this year, and is likely to play only a couple days a week at Iowa.
