At first glance, the designation of Hanley Ramirez by the Red Sox seemed surprising. After all, he is under contract for $22 million this season and had belted 23 homers last year and 30 in 2016.
However, upon further review, Ramirez simply wasn’t living up to his contract or giving the Red Sox consistent production from the N0. 3 spot in the lineup.
The 34-year-old slashed .254/.313/.395, with six home runs and 29 RBI, in 44 games for the Red Sox this year. Boston has played 50 games so far and had given him significant playing time and plenty of opportunities. That’s just not enough production to warrant $22 million.
Yet, there were additional financial considerations for next season as well.
Ramirez’s four-year, $88 million contract (2015-2018) has a fifth-year option that automatically vests if he amasses 1,050 total plate appearances in 2017-2018. Hanley only needed 497 PAs this season for the Red Sox to be on the hook for $22 million in 2019. Ramirez had already compiled 195 plate appearances this season and was well on his way to 497.
Hanley was signed as a free agent to be an offensive spark and a run producer. However, he had mixed results in Boston over parts of four seasons.
2015: 105 games, .249 AVG/.291 OBP/.426 SLG/.717 OPS, 19 HR, 53 RBI, 12 2B, 59 runs
2016: 147 games, .286 AVG/.361 OBP/.505 SLG/.866 OPS, 30 HR, 111 RBI, 28 2B, 81 runs
2017: 133 games, .242 AVG/.320 OBP/.429 SLG/.750 OPS, 23 HR, 62 RBI, 24 2B, 58 runs
2018: 44 games, .254 AVG/.313 OBP/.395 SLG/.708 OPS, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 7 2B, 25 runs
As you can see, the only year in which Ramirez gave the Red Sox what they were expecting, and what they were paying for, was 2016. Last year, Ramirez, a former batting crown winner, posted his lowest batting average ever.
Hanley had surgery on his left shoulder in October and the Red Sox hoped it would help him rediscover the swing that had made him one of the game's premier hitters earlier in his career. That hope never materialized.
Consider what the Red Sox are getting from JD Martinez, at a similar cost:
48 games, .328 AVG/.383 OBP/.645 SLG/1.029 OPS, 15 HR, 41 RBI, 12 2B, 32 runs
Martinez is making $23.75 million this season and next. If there’s a such thing as “earning” $23 million in baseball, Martinez is doing it.
Ramirez certainly isn't earning $22 million this season and there was no way the Red Sox were willing to pay him the same amount again next season at age 35.
Clearly, Ramirez doesn’t come close to Martinez's value and the only way to rectify that was to cut bait now.
This move will make Gold Glove winner Mitch Moreland the full-time first baseman and give him regular at-bats. That's a good thing. The left-handed slugger is slashing a remarkable .311/.390/.612/1.001 this season. That's the second-best OBP, third-best batting average (min. 100 at-bats) and third-best slugging percentage on the team.
In short, Moreland needs to play everyday and this roster was already jammed.
That’s what this DFA is all about. The Red Sox had to make room for Dustin Pedroia and Ramirez was the odd man out. Given his outsized cost and limited production, Hanley did nothing to prevent that.
Ramirez should never have been expected to be a middle-of-the-order presence because he was never that type of hitter. This failed experiment can be laid at the feet of former Boston GM Ben Cherington.
In the end, the Red Sox are still haunted by Cherington's horrible legacy, which includes Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, both of whom the Red Sox are paying or will pay to play for other teams.
That's nothing short of disastrous.
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