Manny Ramirez, the 48-year-old perennial All-Star who last played in the majors in 2011, is signing a one-year deal to play for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League, team owner Adam Dobb told theabl.com.au.

"As a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, this is a dream come true," Dobb told theabl.com.au. "Manny has been interested in the Australian Baseball League for quite a while now."

Dobb said it was Ramirez's preference to play in a big city, and he added that the team is thrilled to have reached a deal with a player who hit 555 home runs and 1,831 RBIs, with a .312 career batting average.

Ramirez, who spent the majority of his career with the Cleveland Indians and Red Sox, last played professionally in Japan in 2017.

Ramirez retired abruptly in April 2011 when told he was being suspended 100 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug during spring training. He was suspended 50 games for his first violation of the policy in 2009.