Feb. 25--MESA, Ariz. -- Although he has yet to officially retire, Manny Ramirez said he's "blessed" to be with the Chicago Cubs as a hitting consultant.
"I feel great," Ramirez said Wednesday before the first full squad workout. "I'm just blessed by Theo (Epstein), the family of the Cubs to bring me back. And just be calm and give the things I learned about the game, the good and the bad, and help these young players.''
Ramirez served last season as a player-coach at Triple-A Iowa and played winter ball in his native Dominican Republic. Ramirez hasn't played in the majors since 2011 but has yet to officially retire.
"Not yet," Ramirez laughed. "I don't know."
When asked about returning to play, Ramirez replied, "Yeah, why not?" A role as a player, however, wasn't discussed during negotiations to return to the Cubs.
Ramirez did elaborate on what he told the minor league players last year about the perils of using performance enhancing drugs after getting caught twice for positive tests during the end of a storied 19-year career.
"When I came here, the first thing I did in the theater with all the minor league players, I had a meeting and I went in and shared all the things I went through so they don't go through that," Ramirez said. "Some people grow faster than other ones. The good thing you learn from your mistakes and move on.
"You tell these young players, 'you don't do this and don't do that. this has consequences.' That's what I did."
Ramirez deferred comments about the possibility of former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returning to the organization, other than to say, "I don't know what he's thinking, but he'd be good. You come back and give something to the kids."
That's exactly what Ramirez has done, and he looks forward to resuming his role and watching the development of Javier Baez and Kris Bryant.
"The sky is the limit," Ramirez said.
Ramirez said he followed Baez during his two-month stint with the Cubs in which he batted .169 with 95 strikeouts in 213 at-bats.
"Some players mature faster than others," Ramirez said. "You just got to wait and support him and give him time."
mgonzales@tribpub.com
