Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez Join the Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays want to remain competitive, and now they may be able to remain competitive in the toughest division in baseball, and that is because Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon have joined up with the Tampa Bay Rays. The two baseball players are officially the newest additions to the team. Damon and Ramirez signed just one-year contracts, and this will fill the holes that were left when several key players departed the team, and one of those players that departed the team was Carlos Pena, and Carl Crawford was also one of the several key players that departed with the team.

Johnny Damon is going to be paid a reported $5.25 million to play for the team, and he will also have the chance at earning $750,000 in bonuses, but attendance will be a determining factor in getting his hands on the bonus. Ramirez's contract was worth a little less than Damon's. Ramirez will get $2 million from the Tampa Bay Rays, which is a lot less than what he made last season when he was with the Dodgers and the White Sox.

Manager Joe Maddon says he does not have a idea of what the batting lineup will be like, and he said that Tampa Bay has a title to defend, and the two players think that they can help the Tampa Bay Rays remain competitive in the AL East race in 2011. Johnny Damon believes that the Tampa Bay Rays could win the American League East.

From 2002-2005, Ramirez and Damon were teammates on the Boston Red Sox, and when the Red Sox won the World Series Championship in 2004, the two players were key players. Both players are said to be excited about being teammates once again.