Manny Ramirez is headed to Chicago after the White Sox picked up the former Los Angeles Dodger slugger on waivers, the Major League Baseball club announced on Monday.
The Dominican native has hit just eight home runs and 40 RBIs this year in 66 games with the Dodgers, who were prepared to let him go and get nothing in return.
Ramirez, 38, has missed a substantial part of the season with a string of injuries, including a sore hamstring and strained calf muscle.
Since being acquired from Boston in 2008, the one time controversial all-star has hit .322 with 44 homers and 156 RBI in 223 games.
"I want him to feel comfortable here," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said Monday. "I want him to like it here. I want him to have fun and I want him to be Manny."
The move caps two turbulent seasons for Ramirez in Los Angeles in which he was paid 45 million dollars by the Dodgers.
In May 2009 MLB's disciplinary officials slapped Ramirez with a 50-game suspension for violating the league's drug policy.
Ramirez batted .348 before the suspension and just .269 in the 77 games he played after the suspension.
Ramirez's tenure with Los Angeles ended with an ejection on Sunday as he was thrown out of his final game with the Dodgers after just one pitch.
After being benched by manager Joe Torre in the previous four games, Ramirez came to the plate against the Colorado Rockies in the sixth inning for a pinch-hit at-bat. Umpire Gary Cederstrom tossed Ramirez out of the game after he took a called strike an argued about it.
Scott Podsednik is expected to replace Ramirez in the outfield for the Dodgers who are 6 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the wild-card race.
Copyright 2010 AFP American Edition
