How Would You Feel About Manny Ramirez Coming Back?

Earlier today, we explored the possibility of the Indians bringing free agent Manny Ramirez back to Cleveland. It makes complete sense from a baseball standpoint; assuming he still has some semblance of his old hitting ability, he’d be an extremely valuable right-handed bat.

But there’s another aspect of this potential deal that bears investigating: fan reaction.

In 2000, Ramirez ended his first tenure with the Tribe when he signed an eight-year, $160 million contract with the Boston Red Sox—for the few hours before Alex Rodriguez inked his own record-setting deal, it was the most lucrative contract in baseball history.

On the one hand, Manny had been a key part of the Indians dynasty of the late 1990’s, and even if he wasn’t the face of the franchise he was a popular figure. On the other hand, he was just one of countless Cleveland sports figures who left town once he got a more lucrative deal from another team. His departure wasn’t exactly a LeBron James situation, but nonetheless it didn’t earn him any good will in Northeast Ohio.

Personally, I’d love to see another familiar face from the good old days come back to play in an Indians uniform again, like Kenny Lofton any Jim Thome did. I don’t blame him for taking the better offer 11 years ago, and I definitely don’t hold it against him—but I know that some people do.

So, what do you think?

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