By MLB Baseball News

Outfielder Manny Ramirez has agreed to a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers and to abide by its minor league rules, which includes cutting his hair.

He was assigned to Triple-A Round Rock.

Ramirez noted that he will donate his salary to charity, saying that at minimum wage it's still too much money for him.

According to his agent, Ramirez was "invigorated" by his time in Taiwan, where he had a successsful season with the EDA Rhinos in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

The 12-time All-Star finished in the top six in the Most Valuable Player balloting seven different times, has a career slash line of a .312 batting average, a .411 on-base percentage and a .585 slugging percentage. He's one of six players in major league history with those minimums in each of those categories along with Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

He last played in the majors in 2011, when he appeared in five games with the Tampa Bay Rays. However, he retired in April 2011 after testing positive for elevated testosterone. He then played for the Oakland A's Class AAA team in Sacramento in 2012, where he spent more time suspended for performance-enhancing drugs than playing.

Ramirez, 41, hopes to use the minors as chance to get back to Major League Baseball.

They will monitor Ramirez's progress and then will see whether they are inclined to give him an opportunity in the big leagues.

The Rangers are in need of a right-handed bat to pair with switch-hitting Lance Berkman. Despite right-handed power in both third baseman Adrian Beltre and outfielder Nelson Cruz, the Rangers have been below average against lefty pitching in 2013.

"I will play and I'll be ready," the slugger said. "I only have to go and play and do well as I did in Taiwan. No commitments."

Nelson Cruz, who played against Ramirez in the Dominican Winter League this past offseason, said it looked like the same-old Manny to him, even at 41.

"He hit two home runs," Cruz said. "One to right field and one to right-center. He hit hard line drives. What I saw, he looked good."

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Manny Ramirez Joins Rangers Minor League Team