Hanley Ramirez was forced to sign a minor-league deal with the Cleveland Indians last month after not receiving enough interest from other teams, but it looks like he will be on the major league roster come Opening Day.
Indians manager Terry Francona told reporters over the weekend that Ramirez is expected to be on the MLB roster when the team opens its season against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. The only thing that could change that is if Cleveland makes a trade.
As of now, Francona said that Hanley Ramirez is on the team. The only thing that could change that is if the Indians make another move to add someone else. And Ramirez knows this.
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) March 24, 2019
Ramirez, 35, has had a decent spring, the highlight of which was his two-homer game on Friday. He also added a double in that game, so that could have been what convinced Francona and the Indians. Overall, Ramirez has batted .278 with eight RBI and an .844 OPS in 12 games this spring.
Ramirez was surprisingly released by the Boston Red Sox midseason last year following a report that he was tied to a federal drug investigation. The report turned out to be unfounded.
