The Oakland Athletics have strong interest in signing slugger Manny Ramirez.
If things come together, the 39-year-old would sign a deal for slightly more than the league minimum of $480,000. He first must serve a 50-game suspension without pay for violating baseball's drug policy for the second time. With no rainouts, the first game Ramirez would be eligible to play is June 2 at Kansas City.
The sides might reach agreement as soon as the next few days or next week, and Ramirez would travel from Florida to Arizona to undergo a physical before joining Oakland's spring training camp for full-squad workouts starting Feb. 25.
Oakland recently sent representatives to Florida to observe workouts by Ramirez, who retired from Tampa Bay last season rather than serve a 100-game suspension. In December, it was announced that Ramirez had applied for reinstatement. He had his suspension for his second failed drug test cut to 50 because he sat out nearly all of last season.
Ramirez, who will be 40 on May 30, ranks 14th on the career list with 555 home runs. This would be the 20th major league season for Ramirez, a career .312 hitter with 1,831 RBIs.
Wakefield retires — Tim Wakefield, 45, is retiring after pitching 19 seasons, the last 17 with Boston. After two seasons with Pittsburgh, the righthanded knuckleballer signed as a minor-league free agent with Boston in April 1995. He was 186-168 with a 4.43 ERA with the Red Sox, behind only Roger Clemens and Cy Young (both with 192) for the team. Wakefield is first in team history with 3,006 innings and 430 starts, and won two World Series championships in Boston. For his career, Wakefield was 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA, his last victory coming in an 18-6 rout of Toronto on Sept. 13 at Fenway Park. Wakefield was the oldest player in the majors last season. An emotional Wakefield said Friday, "Now, I'll have a lot of time to really reflect on all of the accomplishments I have been able to do."
Yanks deal Burnett — The New York Yankees agreed to trade righthander A.J. Burnett, 35, to Pittsburgh for prospects Diego Moreno, 25, and Exicardo Cayones, 20, a deal that clears the way for New York to add free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez, 39.
Pittsburgh will pay $13 million of the $33 million salary due Burnett for 2012 and 2013, a source said. The agreement is subject to Burnett passing a physical, which might take place Sunday. Commissioner Bud Selig also must approve the deal because of the money involved. Burnett was 34-35 with a 4.79 ERA during three seasons with New York, including 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA last year.
Money talks — Third baseman Casey McGehee agreed to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates for $2,537,500. ... Kansas City and lefthander Tim Collins, 22, agreed to a contract for this season, leaving 11 unsigned players on the Royals' 40-man roster. ... San Francisco agreed to minor-league deals with righthander Ramon Ortiz, outfielder Justin Christian and lefthander Travis Blackley.
Santana throws off mound — Johan Santana threw off a mound for the first time after a 4½-month break as he tries to return for the New York Mets' opener in April. The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 25 pitches to Josh Thole, Santana's first mound session since pitching four innings in an Instructional League game Sept. 30. Santana had surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder on Sept. 14, 2010, and hasn't pitched in a major league game since. Santana will take the weekend off and isn't scheduled to throw again until Tuesday.
Associated Press
