Manny Ramirez given permission to report March 1

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Manny Ramirez will be in camp with the Boston Red Sox - just not for a few days.

After asking Boston to trade him during the offseason, the slugger was given permission to report to spring training on March 1, six days after the club's first full-squad workout and one day after Major League Baseball's mandatory reporting date.

"Manny is in Florida completing an extensive training regimen and is prepared to have an exceptional season," said a joint statement from Ramirez and the team that was released by the Red Sox on Tuesday.

"There are a lot of factors involved, some of them are personal, some are family related," general manager Theo Epstein said in Fort Myers, Fla. "He assured us that by staying in Miami and continuing to work with his personal trainer, continuing his regimen, that he wouldn't be behind. In the end, after talking to him, we were OK with accommodating him. It's not perfect, but we're going to support him through this."

Position players were due in town Wednesday, the day before the first workout. Baseball's collective bargaining agreement sets the mandatory reporting date as 33 days prior to the major league opener, which is April 2.

"It happens all the time, guys all over the big leagues show up at different times," Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said. "He'll be ready to play. Manny's one of those guys who if he didn't show up for spring training, I'd still know he'd be ready for the season when the season started."

In Scottsdale, Ariz., the San Francisco Giants gathered as a full team for the first time this year, with players getting the chance to hit, field, run and throw together as they prepare for the start of the season. There was one notable exception - Barry Bonds was nowhere to be found.

"It's nice to see everybody - not quite everybody," manager Felipe Alou said. "It always feels good when you see all of those guys."



Bonds was a no-show at the first voluntary workout for position players. His agent told the team last week that because of personal issues, the star would come a day or two later than his teammates, who showed up Monday.
"To me, he can get here whenever he feels he is ready because whenever he walks into this field he'll perform the way Barry has performed all of the time," Giants outfielder Moises Alou said.

In Tampa, Fla., Gary Sheffield reported to spring training and was upbeat after the New York Yankees said they'd likely keep him around for 2007.

Sheffield is entering the final season of a $39 million, three-year contract, and the Yankees hold a $13 million option for 2007.

"They brought me in and told me they were probably going to pick the option up," Sheffield said after meeting with general manager Brian Cashman. "You always want to earn whatever you get. I take a lot of pride in that. He didn't have to bring me in today. I appreciate that. When I was a free agent, a lot of teams called and I really didn't answer. There was only one place, and that still remains the same. I don't want to play for nobody else but the Yankees."

Cashman said there is no timetable regarding a final decision. Sheffield's contract calls for the option to be exercised within five days of the end of the World Series or Nov. 5.

"He's such a great player, I'd been surprised at the end of this thing we're not doing something," Cashman said. "Let's play this thing through and see where it goes. I'm not saying we'll do anything soon. I'm not saying we're not going to do anything until the very end. I don't know yet."

Miguel Tejada, who asked the Orioles to trade him during the offseason, was greeted by his Baltimore teammates one hug at a time in Fort Lauderdale., Fla.

Tejada said he told the Latin players, "I felt really embarrassed, because I'm not that kind of man. I'm not the kind of person that makes some trouble. Everything is over. Everything is straight."

After the two-hour workout, he told reporters, "It's never going to happen again."

In Vero Beach, Fla., Jeff Kent said the tense atmosphere in the Los Angeles Dodgers' clubhouse last season shouldn't be used as a reason for the team's 71-91 finish.

"That's not an excuse. Me and Barry fought all the time and we went to the World Series," Kent said, referring to his former teammate in San Francisco. "Just because we can't all always get along doesn't mean we shouldn't win. It still shouldn't have affected the way we played."

In Surprise, Ariz., Phil Nevin said he was eager to erase what he called "my most embarrassing season," acknowledging that he didn't respond well to a midseason trade that sent him from San Diego to Texas.

After acquiring Nevin for pitcher Chan Ho Park in July, the Rangers asked Nevin to be a DH. The team then went through a 1-12 trip and started looking at younger players. Nevin played in only 29 games for Texas, hitting .182 with three homers and eight RBIs in 99 at-bats.

"I didn't handle anything well," Nevin said. "It was my most embarrassing season, and I was basically immature about the whole situation."

A career .279 hitter, Nevin hit .289 in 2004 with 26 homers and 105 RBIs.

"I'm looking forward to making up for things this year," said Nevin, who is in the final year of a contract that makes him the highest-paid Rangers player at $10 million.

Rangers star Mark Teixeira knocked the cover off a ball during batting practice.

"I've never done that before," he said. "I think the cover was probably defective. I'm not taking credit for that one."

Nevertheless, he did put it away in his locker and said it might go in his trophy collection.