Moody Column: Ramirez signing is a smart move

I'm sure there are plenty of people scratching their heads over the signing of Manny Ramirez. I'm not one of them.

In the days of high-priced and overpaid players, the A's are getting Ramirez on the cheap. He's sitting out the first 50 games because of a 100-game suspension that he was facing last year. Major League Baseball cut it down to 50 because he missed most of last year.

I hope Manny means what he says about wanting to be remembered in a positive way, and not for his two drug suspensions. He truly has been one of the best hitters in recent memory, a guy who can hit for power and average. He's a little bit of a character, but I think baseball needs a few of those "off-center" guys around.

I also hope the A's drug test him every week, and he should be cut if he's stupid enough to fail another drug test.

I also think the A's made the move because Ramirez is a name who can put some rear ends in the seats.

And after letting Gio Gonzales and Trevor Cahill go not to mention their closer Andrew Bailey, the A's could use a big name.

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And speaking of the A's, I hope MLB lets them build a stadium in San Jose as long as it's privately financed. The taxpayers shouldn't be stuck paying the bill.

The Giants need to quit fighting Oakland over territorial rights. The A's and Giants draw from both sides of the Bay and always have.

The problem with the A's moving - and I agree that the Coliseum needs a lot of work - is that you know ticket prices will go through the roof with a new stadium. Right now A's tickets are affordable, about half the price of Giants tickets.

It's too bad the A's Fremont plan didn't go through or that the team couldn't find space in Pleasanton to build a new stadium.

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Can I just say I would love to see more match-play events on the PGA Tour. It's the way golf was meant to be played.

I like it because if you blow up and have a bad hole, it only costs you that hole - not a tournament or several places in a tournament. It's pressure golf at its finest.

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It was good to see Milwaukee's Ryan Braun get his 50-game drug suspension overturned. It was interesting to hear that when he took a second test that it was within the normal range.

Braun said that he had passed 25 previous tests, including three last year. Braun said there was a problem with the chain of custody. The urine sample was sent to an agency 48 hours after the fact when it's supposed to be sent the same day.

Was there something fishy going on?

It also was good to see guys like Aaron Rodgers and John Axford come to his defense. From everything I've read about Rodgers, he wouldn't come out and defend Braun if he thought the Brewers' star was the least bit shady.