Manny Ramirez doesn’t expect much playing time with Cubs’ AAA squad

Plenty of heads were turned this week when the Chicago Cubs hired baseball legend Manny Ramirez as a minor league player-coach, but never fear, Manny’s presence won’t block potential prospects hopes and dreams.

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“Well, I’ve got it very clear that I was only going to play maybe two times a week,” Ramirez told MLB.com. “They’re not going to take any at-bats from the prospects. I know my role over there.”

Ramirez will serve as a player-coach for the Chicago Cubs Triple-A affiliate, the Iowa Cubs.

The 42-year old Ramirez also took part in a ten-year reunion of the World Series winning Boston Red Sox team, in which he and former teammate Johnny Damon recreated their humorous cutoff throw. Ramirez was known for his unusual antics throughout his baseball career, which coined the term “Manny being Manny.”

Ramirez, a member of baseball’s elite 500-home run club, was twice suspended for using performance enhancing drugs, including just five games into the 2011 season when he’d signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. As opposed to serving the suspension, Ramirez, who was hitting only .059 at the time, instead decided to retire.

The Oakland A’s in 2012, as well as the Texas Rangers in 2013 both took chances on Ramirez after he returned from his short-lived retirement. Both returns were also short-lived, as he was released by each team before playing more than 30 minor league games. In all, Ramirez has been signed by seven teams since the 2008 season.