According to a report issued last night by Jon Heyman and Tom Verducci, after losing out on the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes to the hated Yankees, the Sox called the Marlins to discuss the idea of bringing Hanley Ramirez back to Boston. The 2006 rookie of the year is signed at a major discount through 2014, and the Red Sox saw him as an alternative source of offensive firepower after missing out on Tex.The Marlins reportedly listened to the Red Sox, but needed to be completely blown away by an offer to truly consider moving their young franchise shortstop. Reportedly, the Marlins had the most interest in Jacoby Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz, but needed more to seal a deal. Boston mentioned they were happy with Jed Lowrie at shortstop and would have used Ramirez in center field.
Ramirez is a major offensive threat at the plate but somewhat of a liability at short. It is expected by many that he will eventually move to roaming the outfield, most likely center field to utilize his speed. A deal that included Ellsbury and Buchholz alone seems too good to be true, and since the Marlins know the Sox are in a somewhat desperate position to match some of the Yankees off season moves, they would have likely needed additional big name prospects (Bowdin, Lars Anderson, Masterson etc).
At present time, the thought of seeing Hanley in a Red Sox uniform in 2009 is nothing more than wishful thinking by RSN. The talks were short and appear to have ended... I hated writing this post in past tense....but there is nothing wrong with holding out a little bit of hope and optimism.....I've already had daydreams of Hanely doubling home Dusty with a line drive double to the gap. News like this is similar to showing a 7 year old kid a brand new bike to play with but not giving it to him. I almost wish I didn't hear about this....unless Theo somehow gets them back to the table....
4 comments:
I would make that trade in a heart beat and a half. My only two hang ups on this are Hanely's ability to play center field and the ability to trade for one of Texas' young catchers.
Sounds like this isn't going to happen, but you never know with Theo.
I would also pull the trigger on the deal quickly (but we all know it's a little too good to be true). In regards to the hang ups you mentioned, I would be happy taking on those trade offs and dealing with them as a result of getting Hanley in a Red Sox uniform
Sox are *not* desperate to match New York. NY came in third last year and have replaced Mussina, Pettite and Giambi with a defensive upgrade. They have not replaced Abreu, and Swisher could actually be worse then what they had in CF last year.
On top of all this...where is Posada going to play when he can't catch anymore? DH? Trust me, they're still a mess. It was the Sox who went to game 7 of the ALCS.
That said, yeah, I'd trade Bucholz and Ellsbury for H.Ramirez.
I agree that the Yanks still have their holes, but so do the Sox, and them calling the Marlins to explore the idea of a Hanley trade showcases their continued desire to improve the team's offensive firepower. Is it a direct response to the Yanks? maybe, maybe not, but regardless, the Yanks landed Tex and it has put more pressure on Theo to improve his team in an already improved division.
There are plenty of question marks to go around, but the fact remains that all of us would be very excited to see Hanley come back to Beantown. I would be willing to part with some serious prospects for him.
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