Adding Manny no gamble for ChiSox

CLEVELAND

It’s desperate. It’s expensive. It’s risky. It’s a lot of fuss over someone who has not hit a home run in the major leagues since June 19.

It’s also a perfect move for the Chicago White Sox.

Some observers think the White Sox took a monumental gamble on Monday by acquiring Manny Ramirez on waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Those observers are wrong.

The White Sox didn’t surrender any players. They didn’t commit to the mercurial Manny beyond the end of this season. They did, however, improve their fading postseason hopes.

That’s enough to make this move worthwhile.

If you can’t fathom why anyone would want to take on Manny and his many headaches, I would invite you to check the American League Central standings. The White Sox trail the Minnesota Twins by four games. The Twins, we were reminded last year, specialize in late-season surges, rather than late-season swoons.

I’m not about to call the White Sox a “long shot” to make the playoffs. But they are close to becoming one. Their odds of reaching the postseason are now below 10 percent, according to the Oz-like Baseball Prospectus calculators.

They need a hero. Ramirez, while famously flawed, is a candidate.

“Pretty simple math,” stated White Sox captain Paul Konerko, noting the team’s deficit with only 31 games to play. “We’ve got to make those games up in that amount of time. The team saw that, if we had Manny, he could help us do that. We’re just thinking in simple terms like that.”

They should. Tomorrow is the first day of September, otherwise known as Narrow Focus Month in the major leagues.

When healthy, the 38-year-old Ramirez can still hit. The numbers tell us that. He had a better slugging percentage with the Dodgers this year than over his final two seasons with the Red Sox. And his right leg — the culprit for three trips to the disabled list this season –— is said to be in fine working order.

At his worst, Ramirez has been accused of inventing injuries and quitting on teams. But he will not be at his worst with the White Sox. He has one month to earn his contract for next season. Millions of dollars are at stake. Plus, he can prove to his former employer that he is more than a backup to Scott Podsednik.

Under those circumstances, do you really think he’s going to mail it in?

“People have the wrong (idea) about him,” said Ozzie Guillen, Ramirez’s new boss. “Manny doesn’t even talk in the clubhouse. I don’t know where they get that thing, where Manny’s a bad guy, he’s a pain in the butt.

“It’s funny. People tell people, ‘Manny’s being Manny.’ Manny’s being real. I’ve never seen any teammate be mad at him for anything.”

Kevin Youkilis would probably disagree. But that was two teams ago, right?

Make no mistake: Ramirez is in dire need of a PR makeover, even though I’m not sure that he is interested in one. He has stonewalled the media since spring training. He is widely viewed as a petulant steroid cheat. Yet, he has made almost no effort to alter that perception.

Fortunately for Manny, he has come to the right place. General manager Kenny Williams loves granting second chances. This franchise’s lone world championship in the last 90 years came with the ump-bumping Carl Everett at designated hitter.

So it wasn’t too surprising that word of Ramirez’s impending arrival generated little obvious reaction in the White Sox clubhouse on Monday. His new teammates were neither jubilant nor openly skeptical. They are conditioned to reserve judgment.

That is the White Sox Way.

“As a teammate,” Konerko said, “you owe it to everybody walking through the door that they get the benefit of the doubt, and you go from there.”

I also happen to believe that the Guillen-Ramirez relationship will be far less combustible (and entertaining) than it sounds.

In fact, Guillen might be the perfect manager for Manny. Of the two, Ozzie said, “I’m the bigger troublemaker.”

Guillen is already taking a relaxed approach with his new slugger, punting on the question of whether Ramirez must get a haircut in order to conform to the team’s dress code. (That’s up to owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Guillen said.) Guillen even hinted that Ramirez will get Tuesday night off if he’s weary from a redeye flight.

Williams almost certainly wants Ramirez in the lineup ASAP. Reinsdorf, who put up the $4 million to acquire him, probably agrees. But if Ozzie wants to be the cool boss, more power to him.

Guillen said Ramirez will bat fifth and be the primary designated hitter. Manny should embrace the role, given his intermittent workload recently.

And yes, he will wear jersey No. 99. Kevin Hickey, the batting-practice pitcher, was apparently OK with giving it up.

Said Oz: “I want him to feel comfortable here. I want him to like it here. I want him to have fun. And I want him to be Manny. That’s it.”

Something worth considering: While he has appeared in 2,273 major-league games over 18 seasons, Ramirez has never before played for a Latino manager.

“I’ve played for Ozzie for, what, seven years?” Konerko offered. “He’s really not that hard to play for. If you show up on time and play hard, you really don’t have too much of a problem with Ozzie.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. There’s definitely a lot of personality surrounding our team. So, it might be a good thing. If Manny went to a team that didn’t have any of that, it could cause a big atmosphere or circus. We already have it.”

True. But there is only one Manuel Aristides Ramirez. When he hits, he’s a savant. When he doesn’t, he’s a distraction. It’s been that way for years. I don’t suspect that will change at U.S. Cellular Field — which, it should be noted, is more hitter-friendly than Dodger Stadium.

But the biggest difference for Ramirez has nothing to do with time zones, media markets or ballpark dimensions. He is two years older than when he went from the Red Sox to the Dodgers. He is trying to prove that he is still powerful enough to be feared.

He has just one month to do it. And I think he will.