The Red Sox are rumored to be hot and heavy after ace left-hander David Price, but can hardly afford to tack another lengthy, bloated contract onto their payroll. One way to relieve some financial stress would be to unload Hanley Ramirez, which is exactly what they are trying to do according to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe.
The Mariners, Angels and Orioles are all being targeted by the Red Sox for deals, but being able to unload him is wishful thinking. The first, obvious, reason is Ramirez’s unwieldy contract. He signed a four-year, $88 million contract last offseason, which was ill-advised based on the lack of a place for him to play. The Red Sox already had hotshot prospect Xander Bogaerts slotted there, veteran Dustin Pedroia entrenched at second base, and fellow free agent Pablo Sandoval to play third base. Ramirez was shunted off to left field, not only creating an outfield logjam, but turning Ramirez into a net negative.
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Ramirez’s bat tailed off significantly in his third straight injury-shortened campaign – he slashed .249/.291/.426 with 19 home runs in 105 games – but the real atrocity was his defense in left. Ramirez played 747 2/3 innings in Boston’s outfield, and cost the team a ghastly 22.9 runs. The Red sox paid Ramirez $19 million to cost them 1.8 wins, per Fangraphs’ WAR statistic. He was an unconscionable failure in left field, and surely no acquiring team would play him there.
The issue for Ramirez is that for all his experience at multiple positions, he’s not a plus-glove at any of them. He was worth -10.2 runs in 2014 as the Dodgers’ primary shortstop, and -3.6 as a third baseman in 2012.
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He will turn 32 before the 2016 season begins, has posted three straight abbreviated seasons, shown decline at the plate, and is close to being a full-time DH because of his eroding athleticism. For the Red Sox to be able to move him, they’d likely have to pick up a healthy portion of his deal – at least half as Cafardo speculated – which would defeat the purpose of moving him to free up room for Price. And that is assuming that the aforementioned teams are even interested in Ramirez, whose sole value at this point is his bat, which is not improving.
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