Aramis Ramirez

Well meaning Cubs fans are loudly advocating the team to dump Milton Bradley and move to acquire Curtis Granderson to play center field and lead off for the 2010 Chicago Cubs. At first blush, perhaps that would be a fine swap. But realistically I just don’t see how it can happen without an extrordinary alignment of the planets. Bradley will likely hit about .300 with an on-base pushing .400 for someone next season. Granderson should post 25+ HRs and perhaps improve upon most of his statistical averages. Curtis Granderson has a lot of career ahead of him, where Bradley is closer to the end ... Read Full Story

It’s been a tough week for sluggers named Ramirez. Of course Manny’s undoing was of his own making. But all-star Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez having dislocated his left shoulder in last night’s game is a tremendous blow to this team. There was a lot of talk as spring training broke of having no legitimate backup for A-Ram who has proven year after year that he will be injured a few weeks every season. The Cubs have productive but fragile starters at third, left and right fields. Just 29 games into this season, Ramirez and Milton Bradley have missed significant time and Derrek Lee ... Read Full Story

Aramis Ramirez (pictured) is borrowing a line from Santa Ana’s own Garry Templeton. ESPN Deportes is reporting that Ramirez has decided to not play for Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic team, making the announcement after Alex Rodriguez showed up at Tuesday’s workout at Boca Chica. The Cubs’ third baseman’s stance is similar to that of Templeton, who in 1981 was chosen to the NL All-Star team as a reserve. Ramirez doesn’t want to be A-Rod’s caddy. “If I ain’t startin’, I ain’t departin’,” said Santa Ana Valley High legend Templeton, who starred at shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres, and ... Read Full Story

There's no reason to talk about steroids infiltrating baseball when buzz-worthy professional ball players are partaking in blood-dripping, mortal combat between roosters. That's what Aramis Ramirez is bringing to the table now that he's been outed as a premier, head honcho of cockfighting . But don't ask him any questions about the New York Times article that put the spotlight on his secret life. He's as tight-lipped as steroid user in front of Congress. It took only a minute or so before Ramirez was asked about cockfighting following a recent New York Times story revealed he was heavily into the sport, which is popular ... Read Full Story

The Chicago Cubs are hexed. Someone, somewhere implored mystics and voodoo dolls 100 years ago and put a mega-hex on the Cubbies. As of today, Alfonso Soriano (broken finger), Mark DeRosa (heart), Jose Ascanio (bruised face) and cockfighting kingpin Aramis Ramirez (shoulder) have all been sidelined due to injury. Cubs' fans probably shouldn't worry because it's so early in the baseball year, but when Felix Pie pulls up with an odd injury, people might want to speculate that this could be a regular occurrence for the entire year. ...Outfielder Felix Pie missed a couple of days early because of a twisted testicle. You can ... Read Full Story