Dave Dombrowski didn’t sign Hanley Ramirez to the four-year, $88 million deal he received last winter. That was all Ben Cherington. But the new Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations is looking to rid himself of the remaining three years and $66 million on Ramirez’s contract, and according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, he may have actually have some suitors after an ugly 2015 for Hanley.
There’s now talk in the front office that Dave Dombrowski is trying to move Ramirez in a deal. The Mariners, Orioles, and Angels seem to be the targets, and all three make sense.
Cafardo also notes that each of those three teams would have interest in Ramirez as a DH, but the ridiculous amount of money due to Ramirez is a major hurdle.
Ramirez, who will turn 32 in December, had a…well, I think “interesting” is a good way to describe his return to Boston in 2015. He hit just .249/.291/.426 with 19 homers, and played in only 105 games, marking the third time in the last five seasons he failed to qualify for the batting title. Boston signed him to play left field at Fenway Park, and Hanley couldn’t handle the Green Monster – in 747 2/3 innings, he logged a staggering -19 DRS and -17.8 UZR. The only player with at least 500 innings in the field to log a lower DRS total was Giants center fielder Angel Pagan (-20), and no player had a worse UZR.
Because of the logjam of outfielders that the Red Sox have, Ramirez will be converted to first base for the 2016 season – if he’s still around, that is. While that position switch should (in theory) help his defensive value, he’s still a 32-year old with declining offensive numbers and a questionable defensive profile.
And thus, the possible links to the Mariners, Orioles, and Angels. But…the only one of those teams that screams “possible fit” to me is Baltimore. The Mariners have a pair of players that should burn their gloves in Nelson Cruz and Mark Trumbo, though Trumbo could be traded or non-tendered this offseason due to his impending arbitration raise. The Angels have two players that are first base/DH types in Albert Pujols and soon-to-be 26-year old C.J. Cron.
Then, there are the Orioles. Chris Davis will likely be leaving town as a free agent after a 47 homer season. Their primary DH this season was the immortal Jimmy Paredes (who hit .275/.310/.416 with ten homers for the season). The Orioles definitely could use a bat like Ramirez’s in the lineup, though his declining performance and massive contract are both major red flags going forward (in fact, the contract is arguably a huge deterrent for the Orioles, who already have $57 million committed to their 2016 payroll and have a whopping 11 players eligible for arbitration this winter).
Boston could be stuck with Ramirez for the 2016 season, but that’s something we expected the moment he put pen to paper a year ago. But hey, once David Ortiz retires at the end of this season, the Red Sox will have an opening at DH – Dombrowski and company will just have to hope Ramirez’s bat doesn’t get even worse this year while also hoping he can handle first base. If so, everything should start falling into place with Ramirez and fellow large contract bust Pablo Sandoval for the 2017 season.
