Manny Ramirez hit 236 home runs during his 1993-2000 run with the Cleveland Indians before signing a huge free agent deal with the Boston Red Sox.

In 2000, the Pacific Trading Card company took two of his bats, cut one of them and put them in a series of baseball cards. X-Ray evidence revealed that those two bats had cork in them, which is illegal in baseball and has come with suspension for those caught in the past. Jeff Morris, the former VP of Marketing for Pacific, said in a radio interview on Friday that there was no doubt these bats were game used, implying that Ramirez was cheating.

“[W]e got a call from saying, ‘You’re not going to believe this. There’s cork in the bat that we cut up and some of it got onto a card.’ We were very adamant… make sure that does not get onto a card. It was just like a nightmare. And sure enough, there were a couple of them that got out.”

One of those cards are now on eBay for $5,000. Another piece of a Ramirez corked bat was up for auction last April. The second bat? “He’d gone down to the airport and put it through the x-ray machine,” said Morris, “and sure enough, it was corked too.” Hat tip to Cork Gaines at Business Insider for being on the story first.

Prince Fielder wanted a long, lucrative contract. He got just that from the city where he grew up and where his father, Cecil, starred. The Tigers and the slugging 1B/DH agreed to a nine-year deal worth $214 million, according to CBS’ Jon Heyman. Fielder will play first base, according to Heyman, with Miguel Cabrera taking on a different role.

Detroit had a gaping hole in the middle of their lineup when Victor Martinez tore his ACL a week ago.  The 27-year-old lefty spent six full seasons with Milwaukee and hit 228 home runs, including 38 last season when he led the Brewers to the NLCS, where they lost to the eventual champion Cardinals. His .299 average and .415 on base percentage in 2011 were both career highs as was his 36 doubles. He also struck out a career low 106 times.

Like Ryan Braun in Milwaukee, Fielder will have superb lineup protection in Miguel Cabrera, and a Fielder-Cabrera-Martinez trio in the middle of the batting order starting in 2013 will be tough to top in all of baseball. Detroit had a gigantic offensive hole with Martinez out, and Detroit flew in to make the huge Fielder move with Washington the only suitor believed to offer Fielder anything close to what he wanted.

The Tigers will have one of the best offenses in the American League for a long time with Fielder following his father’s footsteps in the Motor City.

Tampa Bay had a hole at the 1B/DH spot they quickly filled with longtime Rays slugger Carlos Pena, who re-joined the team on a one-year deal worth $7.25 million, as first reported by CBS’ Jon Heyman.

Pena, 33, spent his four most successful years with Tampa Bay, hitting 46 homers in 2007 and leading the AL with 39 jacks in 2009. Last season for the Cubs, Pena hit .225/.357/.462 with 28 homers, 80 RBI’s, 27 doubles and 101 walks in 493 plate appearances.

Pena will fill a gaping power hole in the middle of the order that wasn’t really filled last year. Evan Longoria had a season plagued with injury and ineffectiveness and Casey Kotchman often hit in the cleanup hole for Joe Maddon’s team. Pena is now back and re-energizes the Tampa Bay lineup.

The Detroit Tigers announced that star C/DH Victor Martinez tore his left ACL and will likely miss the entire 2012 season.

The team announced Tuesday afternoon that Martinez likely tore it during offseason conditioning drills and he’ll soon get an MRI to confirm the severity of the injury. Noted surgeon Dr. Richard Steadman will re-evaluate soon, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman.

In the first year of a four-year $50 million contract, Martinez hit a career best .330 with a .380 on base percentage and .470 slugging percentage with 12 home runs, 103 RBI’s and 40 doubles in 595 plate appearances.

What’s remarkable is that he struck out a career low 51 times despite so many trips to the plate. According to FanGraphs, Martinez’s 8.6 percent strikeout percentage was the fifth lowest in baseball among players with at least 500 plate appearances, behind only Yadier Molina, Placido Polanco, Jose Reyes and Juan Pierre. The Tigers will now likely miss that production for all of 2012.

Possible replacements for Martinez will likely come from the 1B/DH market with Alex Avila more than capable of taking on full-time catching responsibilities.

The Reds have agreed to a contract with former Phillies closer Ryan Madson, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. Madson will replace Francisco Cordero as the team’s primary ninth inning reliever. It’s a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Jim Bowden.

The 31-year-old righty saved 32 games for Philadelphia last season, going 4-2 with a 2.37 ERA in 62 appearances and 60.2 innings pitched. He had better than a four to one strikeout to walk ratio and put up a very strong 1.15 WHIP. Madson nearly signed a deal in Philadelphia until a contract SNAFU derailed talks between the two sides despite Madson having spent all nine years of his career with the Phillies. Philadelphia replaced Madson with longtime Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon earlier in the offseason.

Madson will replace Francisco Cordero as the team’s closer, according to Heyman. Cordero spent the last four years as Cincinnati’s closer and had perhaps his best season, saving 37 games with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP in 68 games pitched. The Reds have apparently decided to go in a different direction and Madson is now their new closer.