Hanley DFA’d

[FredLynn]

He'll be released from his contract in a week. Signing with another team is a new contract. He can't go play for another team unless he is under contract to them somehow. That agreement with the new team would almost certainly be for the major league minimum, and that would be prorated for the 2/3 of the season remaining.

 

Exactly. The Sox will be on the hook for the remainder of his 2018 salary less the prorated portion of the MLB minimum salary. In 2019 he can see what he can do about finding another $22M contract. Its hard not to feel sorry for the guy; I mean, how could he possibly survive on a measly $22M this year?

[harmony]

@HanleyRamirez

 

Thank you #RedSoxNation. It’s been real. Love you always

[mvp 78]

 

[Emp9]

Sure hope Moeland keeps on hitting like he’s been this season, and Pedroia comes back strong. Every five minutes I grow more comfortable with HanRam’s DFA, especially if it does indeed give us more financial flexibility. Secondly, maybe Swihart gets more looks and maybe even builds back some of the value he’s lost (via both his fault & no fault of his own). I do worry a little about overall team chemistry, HanRam was a good personality this season. I don’t suspect there will be any negative fall out, but you never know. DFA-ing Hanley could free up budget space to make a good move (or two) at the deadline. Maybe sure up our BP? That’d be nice.

[harmony]

Correct. His next contract will be completely new and the old contract effectively dies without accrual of further PAs at the end of the season

Except the Red Sox are still on the hook for the balance of this year's $22 million salary (less the prorated league minimum) even though Hanley Ramirez would be playing for another team under a new contract.

[jacksonianmarch]

I don't know the specifics of the Hanley Ramirez contract but I suspect Ramirez may have a grievance if the vesting option is voided.

 

Ramirez was playing well enough to be on pace to vest the $22 million option for 2019. As the Alex Speier article mentions, it would have been awkward for the Red Sox to keep Ramirez but cut back his plate appearances to avoid the vesting option. However, any grievance Ramirez may have had with that strategy pales in comparison to a grievance that the DFA voids the option altogether if no team claims him.

 

Again I don't know the specifics of the contract but I doubt Ramirez can lose the benefits of the vesting option that easily.

 

By DFA’ing him, a grievance is avoided

[harmony]

By DFA’ing him, a grievance is avoided

Not necessarily if no team will sign Hanley Ramirez to the league minimum this year because of fears the 2019 option will vest.

 

In November 2014 Ramirez signed a contract that reportedly said a 2019 option for $22 million would vest with 1,050 plate appearances in 2017-18 (and a passed physical after the 2018 season).

 

I doubt the vesting option simply disappears, especially when Ramirez was on pace to vest the option.

 

Again, I don't know the terms of the Red Sox contract, which I hope addressed this contingency.

Edited May 25, 2018 by harmony

[iortiz]

Seems like the mess that Cherington left finally has been cleaned up by DD. DD's axe in effect.

 

Said that wish the best for Hanley.

[Emp9]

Seems like the mess that Cherington left finally has been cleaned up by DD. DD's axe in effect.

 

Said that wish the best for Hanley.

 

They’re DFA-ing Betts, XB, ERod, and Beni too? /s/

[mvp 78]

Seems like the mess that Cherington left finally has been cleaned up by DD. DD's axe in effect.

 

Said that wish the best for Hanley.

 

Not really. DD still hasn't solved the problem of Pedroia getting the largest 2b contract when it was signed and his overall diminished value to the team.

 

[mvp 78]

They’re DFA-ing Betts, XB, ERod, and Beni too? /s/

 

Betts and XB were both Theo guys.

[jung]

Been nice knowing ya' Hanley. But you only performing when something stupid pissed you off was getting old. Have fun wherever you go.

[mvp 78]

@redsoxstats

 

For $183M Ramirez and Sandoval provided the Red Sox with seasons of 2.8, 0.1, -0.2, -0.3, -0.9, -1.0, and -1.3 WAR. They got the 3rd and 4th biggest contracts that winter after Max Scherzer and Jon Lester.

[illinoisredsox]

Not necessarily if no team will sign Hanley Ramirez to the league minimum this year because of fears the 2019 option will vest.

 

In November 2014 Ramirez signed a contract that reportedly said a 2019 option for $22 million would vest with 1,050 plate appearances in 2017-18 (and a passed physical after the 2018 season).

 

I doubt the vesting option simply disappears, especially when Ramirez was on pace to vest the option.

 

Again, I don't know the terms of the Red Sox contract, which I hope addressed this contingency.

 

This is not that difficult:

 

1) His current contract contains the vesting option that kicks in if he gets those 1050 Plate Appearances over the 2017 and 2018 season. As of today, he has 748.

 

2) If another team claims him off waivers or makes a trade for him, they assume the terms of his current contract. This makes it extremely unlikely that any club will take him in this manner.

 

3) Once released (in a week), he is free to sign a new contract with any team. Any plate appearances from here forward will be under that new contract, not his current Red Sox one. He got 748 PAs under his current contract; that is not 1050 and the option does not vest.

[Station 13]

@redsoxstats

 

For $183M Ramirez and Sandoval provided the Red Sox with seasons of 2.8, 0.1, -0.2, -0.3, -0.9, -1.0, and -1.3 WAR. They got the 3rd and 4th biggest contracts that winter after Max Scherzer and Jon Lester.

 

Two pitcher that the team needed.

[Bellhorn04]

@redsoxstats

 

For $183M Ramirez and Sandoval provided the Red Sox with seasons of 2.8, 0.1, -0.2, -0.3, -0.9, -1.0, and -1.3 WAR.

 

And some people wonder what WAR is good for.

[mvp 78]

Two pitcher that the team needed.

 

If they just signed Scherzer and Cruz, the team would have been much better off.

[mvp 78]

And some people wonder what WAR is good for.

 

Absolutely nothing!

[OH FOY]

There is no WAR for Minor Leaguers, but you can see the above average players with your eyes.

[cp176]

It took stones to do what DD just did. As much as everyone likes what was done and as much as so many think that it was inevitable, it took stones. He will be making more big time moves sooner or later. Maybe this year or maybe next year. He'll get who he wants regardless of how much money everybody thinks that he doesn't have to spend. He is just not paying attention to all the advice he could so easily read here. Good luck to Hanley. Never a big fan, but I just kept hoping that he could turn back thee clock to his younger days. It was time.

[Emp9]

Betts and XB were both Theo guys.

 

AND Cherington’s.

[Bellhorn04]

Sandoval, Ramirez introduced by Sox

Nov 26, 2014

ESPN.com news services

 

BOSTON -- Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez spent the past two seasons as NL West rivals. Now they're teammates, signing with the Boston Red Sox as free agents to try to boost Boston out of the AL East cellar.

"It's exciting for me to be with Hanley and David Ortiz," Sandoval said Tuesday, adding that the trio has already been dubbed the "Three Amigos."

Sandoval's deal -- a five-year pact for $95 million with a $17 million club option for a sixth year (or a $5 million buyout), a major league source told ESPNBoston.com -- was finalized Tuesday morning.

Pablo Sandoval's career postseason batting average of .344 is the best in baseball history among players with at least 150 plate appearances. And he has a .426 batting average in 50 career World Series plate appearances as he helped the Giants win three titles.

Player BA Years

Pablo Sandoval .344 2010-14

Steve Garvey .338 1974-84

George Brett .337 1976-85

Carlos Beltran .333 2004-13

-- ESPN Stats & Information

The Red Sox announced Ramirez's four-year deal later Tuesday.

"David, he's like my big brother," Ramirez said. "He's texting me pretty much every day and telling me what I've got to do, what I've got to change. I think he's part of my success in the big leagues ... I can't wait to be on the same team with him. It's going to be great."

Sandoval helped the Giants win three championships, earning the World Series MVP in 2012 and the nickname "Kung Fu Panda" that helped cement him as a fan favorite.

"I want a new challenge. I need a new challenge," he said Tuesday during a Fenway Park news conference. "I know that I had a great career in San Francisco. But I'm going to have a new one here."

Sandoval helps fill a hole in the Red Sox's lineup for a third baseman and a left-handed bat. Ramirez, who played shortstop and a little third base with the Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers, will be the team's left fielder.

"You're always trying to get a sense of where they might fit in," Red Sox manager John Farrell said when asked about potential lineups. "We're not even at Thanksgiving yet. The potential for some other additions might exist."

For now, the Red Sox are overloaded with outfielders and short on pitchers, having acquired Allen Craig and Yoenis Cespedes at the July trade deadline while shipping off four-fifths of the rotation.

"We've got a ways to go in the offseason," Farrell said.

Sandoval's deal includes a team vesting option for 2020. The 28-year-old Venezuelan, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 248 pounds, was seen as a potential replacement for Ortiz at designated hitter when he retires.

But Sandoval said he will manage his weight to remain in the field.

The Red Sox hope Pablo Sandoval will give them a significant upgrade at third base, a position at which they struggled mightily in 2013.

"I'm going to be taking care of those things to play third base," he said.

Sandoval said Ortiz gave him advice when he was in the minor leagues that he has carried with him. Having a chance to play with Ortiz, who was the World Series MVP in 2013, was a factor that attracted him to Boston.

"To be Papi's teammate -- 162 games, all that with him -- for me, it's going to be a very exciting time," said Sandoval, who had dinner with Ramirez on Monday night.

Sandoval is a career .294 hitter who had 16 homers and 73 RBIs in the regular season this year and then hit .366 in the postseason while helping the Giants win their third World Series in five years.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said Sandoval was "a primary target" in the offseason.

"He really embodies a lot of what we care about," Cherington said. "He's been a big winner. He's been a performer when it counts the most. He's respected as a teammate, loves to play. We think he fits what we're all about here. We're excited to have him."

Sandoval also said he was looking forward to playing at Fenway Park, something Cherington feels his bat is suited for.

"His approach, we believe, fits the ballpark well," Cherington said. "Third base had been a position we've been trying to figure out now for a couple of years now. ... This was an opportunity to add a really good player, a great person and a great fit for our team at a position of need."

Last season, Red Sox third basemen ranked 29th in baseball in OPS, with their .580 mark 121 percentage points below the league average of .701.

"He's unique -- a line-drive hitter who has power [and] doesn't strike out," Cherington said. "This is not someone who has to come to Fenway and change anything. He just has to come and be himself and be the best that he knows how to be. If he does that, that's going to help our lineup, that's going to help us win games."

In total, the Red Sox are investing at least $183 million in Sandoval and Ramirez.

Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry was not among those fretting about the risk at stake, with so much guaranteed money on the line.

"I think the risk of doing nothing was much larger,'' said Henry, who attended both ends of the matinee-evening news conferences the Red Sox held to introduce their newest additions. "The risk is avoiding free agency. You can't put together a winning ballclub just through the minor league system. To me that would be really risky.''

Henry was asked about the worst-to-first-worst odyssey the club has been on in the last three seasons.

New Red Sox left fielder Hanley Ramirez called himself "a new player, a new person."

"If we can win the World Series every other year and finish last every other year, I'd take that,'' Henry said. "It has been a roller coaster, I can't deny that, but when you have a bad year, like you did this year, just like in 2012, you're determined to rebuild quickly, and I think Ben has taken tremendous steps to do that.''

Ramirez's deal is worth $88 million and includes a fifth-year vesting option for an additional $22 million, according to a source.

Ramirez will be paid a $3 million signing bonus, and $19 million in the first season of the deal and $22 million in each successive year.

"There's just not that many opportunities in this game to bring in a player of Hanley's ability overall, particularly on the offensive side," Cherington said. "He's a very good base runner also. When those opportunities come up you have to avoid being too stubborn about what the rest of the picture looks like."

Ramirez came up in the Red Sox's system before he was traded to the Florida Marlins in the deal that brought Josh Beckett and future World Series MVP Mike Lowell to Boston. The 30-year-old batted .300 with 13 homers and 71 RBIs for Los Angeles this year.

"It's been a while," Ramirez said. "I remember '05 when I got traded I was really upset. Like he said, it worked out for both of us -- you guys won a couple of world championships. I haven't won any but that's what I'm here for. I'm a new player, I'm a new person."

To clear roster spots for Sandoval and Ramirez, the Red Sox designated first baseman-catcher Ryan Lavarnway and infielder Juan Francisco for assignment.

"So now we're in a position where we feel very good about the depth of our lineup, the mix of offensive players that we believe we'll be in a position to address the rest of the team, particularly the pitching staff, the rest of the offseason," Cherington said.

ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes and Kyle Brasseur and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[mvp 78]

AND Cherington’s.

 

Nope, that's not how it works. Only the GM gets credit around here.

[jad]

I'm going to miss him. An erratic but very exciting player, who, like his namesake Manny, made hitting look like the most natural thing in the world.

[SoxHop]

Sandoval, Ramirez introduced by Sox

Nov 26, 2014

ESPN.com news services

 

BOSTON -- Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez spent the past two seasons as NL West rivals. Now they're teammates, signing with the Boston Red Sox as free agents to try to boost Boston out of the AL East cellar.

"It's exciting for me to be with Hanley and David Ortiz," Sandoval said Tuesday, adding that the trio has already been dubbed the "Three Amigos."

Sandoval's deal -- a five-year pact for $95 million with a $17 million club option for a sixth year (or a $5 million buyout), a major league source told ESPNBoston.com -- was finalized Tuesday morning.

Pablo Sandoval's career postseason batting average of .344 is the best in baseball history among players with at least 150 plate appearances. And he has a .426 batting average in 50 career World Series plate appearances as he helped the Giants win three titles.

Player BA Years

Pablo Sandoval .344 2010-14

Steve Garvey .338 1974-84

George Brett .337 1976-85

Carlos Beltran .333 2004-13

-- ESPN Stats & Information

The Red Sox announced Ramirez's four-year deal later Tuesday.

"David, he's like my big brother," Ramirez said. "He's texting me pretty much every day and telling me what I've got to do, what I've got to change. I think he's part of my success in the big leagues ... I can't wait to be on the same team with him. It's going to be great."

Sandoval helped the Giants win three championships, earning the World Series MVP in 2012 and the nickname "Kung Fu Panda" that helped cement him as a fan favorite.

"I want a new challenge. I need a new challenge," he said Tuesday during a Fenway Park news conference. "I know that I had a great career in San Francisco. But I'm going to have a new one here."

Sandoval helps fill a hole in the Red Sox's lineup for a third baseman and a left-handed bat. Ramirez, who played shortstop and a little third base with the Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers, will be the team's left fielder.

"You're always trying to get a sense of where they might fit in," Red Sox manager John Farrell said when asked about potential lineups. "We're not even at Thanksgiving yet. The potential for some other additions might exist."

For now, the Red Sox are overloaded with outfielders and short on pitchers, having acquired Allen Craig and Yoenis Cespedes at the July trade deadline while shipping off four-fifths of the rotation.

"We've got a ways to go in the offseason," Farrell said.

Sandoval's deal includes a team vesting option for 2020. The 28-year-old Venezuelan, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 248 pounds, was seen as a potential replacement for Ortiz at designated hitter when he retires.

But Sandoval said he will manage his weight to remain in the field.

The Red Sox hope Pablo Sandoval will give them a significant upgrade at third base, a position at which they struggled mightily in 2013.

"I'm going to be taking care of those things to play third base," he said.

Sandoval said Ortiz gave him advice when he was in the minor leagues that he has carried with him. Having a chance to play with Ortiz, who was the World Series MVP in 2013, was a factor that attracted him to Boston.

"To be Papi's teammate -- 162 games, all that with him -- for me, it's going to be a very exciting time," said Sandoval, who had dinner with Ramirez on Monday night.

Sandoval is a career .294 hitter who had 16 homers and 73 RBIs in the regular season this year and then hit .366 in the postseason while helping the Giants win their third World Series in five years.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said Sandoval was "a primary target" in the offseason.

"He really embodies a lot of what we care about," Cherington said. "He's been a big winner. He's been a performer when it counts the most. He's respected as a teammate, loves to play. We think he fits what we're all about here. We're excited to have him."

Sandoval also said he was looking forward to playing at Fenway Park, something Cherington feels his bat is suited for.

"His approach, we believe, fits the ballpark well," Cherington said. "Third base had been a position we've been trying to figure out now for a couple of years now. ... This was an opportunity to add a really good player, a great person and a great fit for our team at a position of need."

Last season, Red Sox third basemen ranked 29th in baseball in OPS, with their .580 mark 121 percentage points below the league average of .701.

"He's unique -- a line-drive hitter who has power [and] doesn't strike out," Cherington said. "This is not someone who has to come to Fenway and change anything. He just has to come and be himself and be the best that he knows how to be. If he does that, that's going to help our lineup, that's going to help us win games."

In total, the Red Sox are investing at least $183 million in Sandoval and Ramirez.

Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry was not among those fretting about the risk at stake, with so much guaranteed money on the line.

"I think the risk of doing nothing was much larger,'' said Henry, who attended both ends of the matinee-evening news conferences the Red Sox held to introduce their newest additions. "The risk is avoiding free agency. You can't put together a winning ballclub just through the minor league system. To me that would be really risky.''

Henry was asked about the worst-to-first-worst odyssey the club has been on in the last three seasons.

New Red Sox left fielder Hanley Ramirez called himself "a new player, a new person."

"If we can win the World Series every other year and finish last every other year, I'd take that,'' Henry said. "It has been a roller coaster, I can't deny that, but when you have a bad year, like you did this year, just like in 2012, you're determined to rebuild quickly, and I think Ben has taken tremendous steps to do that.''

Ramirez's deal is worth $88 million and includes a fifth-year vesting option for an additional $22 million, according to a source.

Ramirez will be paid a $3 million signing bonus, and $19 million in the first season of the deal and $22 million in each successive year.

"There's just not that many opportunities in this game to bring in a player of Hanley's ability overall, particularly on the offensive side," Cherington said. "He's a very good base runner also. When those opportunities come up you have to avoid being too stubborn about what the rest of the picture looks like."

Ramirez came up in the Red Sox's system before he was traded to the Florida Marlins in the deal that brought Josh Beckett and future World Series MVP Mike Lowell to Boston. The 30-year-old batted .300 with 13 homers and 71 RBIs for Los Angeles this year.

"It's been a while," Ramirez said. "I remember '05 when I got traded I was really upset. Like he said, it worked out for both of us -- you guys won a couple of world championships. I haven't won any but that's what I'm here for. I'm a new player, I'm a new person."

To clear roster spots for Sandoval and Ramirez, the Red Sox designated first baseman-catcher Ryan Lavarnway and infielder Juan Francisco for assignment.

"So now we're in a position where we feel very good about the depth of our lineup, the mix of offensive players that we believe we'll be in a position to address the rest of the team, particularly the pitching staff, the rest of the offseason," Cherington said.

ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes and Kyle Brasseur and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Picture a fiery Hindenburg crashing into a sinking Titanic is how I'd explain those signings.

[MADSTORK]

It feels great to have Hanley off this team, like the plague has been lifted. We don't have to worry about that option anymore and he wasn't helping the team this year. His loss means nothing. He has been a terrible player for 3 out of 4 years in Boston. He had one good year with the Red Sox--that was it.

 

Amen!

[Jack Flap]

I'm still surprised the team jumped to this drastic of a solution so early in the season, and it wouldn't surprise me if Hanley was still capable of getting hot and going on a 2016-like run at some point, but I'm fine with the move. Definitely the best thing for the team long-term, and quite possibly in the short term as well. Hopefully Moreland can continue to produce and Swihart starts getting some more opportunities and makes the most of them. Not having to worry about the option and any related drama come August or September is a relief.

[Slasher9]

Hanley staying classy by thanking redsox nation. Dude did everything Red Sox management asked of him without complaining once. He is truly someone kids should look up to and model themselves after.

Best of luck to Hanley wherever he ends up next in life.

[jung]

Nope, that's not how it works. Only the GM gets credit around here.

 

Cherrys has to get some credit for guys that have spent some time in the Sox system. It is not Cherry's fault that the Sox saw a GM in a Dir of Player Personnel. Dir of Player Personnel is was and will likely always be the best job in baseball for Cherry's. If somebody whated to pay him a premium for that job, they would have every reason to believe it would pay off over time.

[Jack Flap]

Hanley staying classy by thanking redsox nation. Dude did everything Red Sox management asked of him without complaining once. He is truly someone kids should look up to and model themselves after.

Best of luck to Hanley wherever he ends up next in life.

 

I think once fans get it in their heads that a certain player is a slacker, malingerer, troublemaker, or whatever the case may be, that perception is incredibly hard to shake. I never saw any of that in Hanley during his time with the Red Sox. Say what you will about his performance, but he always seemed to have a smile on his face and to be genuinely happy to be here.

 

I, too, wish him all the best going forward. It wouldn't particularly surprise me at all if he latched on as a 1B/DH somewhere and hit something like 15 homers with an .820 OPS the rest of the season.