Sport-Blog.com

Though Manny Ramirez had requested a trade during the winter months and suggested that he might not report to spring training if his request was not honored, the Boston Red Sox superstar arrived Wednesday at the Red Sox spring training facility declaring himself ready to play for the Bean town boys.

But his reporting was a full six days after the team's first full-squad workout and a day after the Major League Baseball mandatory reporting date, even if Ramirez did meet the stipulations of Red Sox management by reporting March 1st.

At Manny's request, management allowed the slugger an extra week to continue working out near his Miami home before reporting to camp.The flaky leftfielder has been a challenge for Red Sox management off the field, but the hitter has always produced between the lines, especially offensively.

Ramirez immediately indicated that he wouldn't be joining the Dominican Republic's team in the World Baseball Classic on Thursday. Sportswriters had speculated that Manny's stay at spring training would be brief as he was a likely participant in the WBC. Instead, Ramirez will spend the month of March practicing and playing with Boston.

And amidst questions regarding his views about playing for the Red Sox after their failure to complete his trade request, Ramirez spoke positively of Boston. He also insisted he would be ready to play on opening day, doing what he does best: hitting a baseball and driving in runs.

Club officials noted that Ramirez appears to have reported in tremendous shape. The slugger spoke of his workout regimen that included a lot of agility work.

Ramirez has had a long history of hamstring problems over his major league career. Still, Ramirez is coming off a season in which he hit .292, smacked 45 home runs and drove in 144 runs for the Sox.