I Think Hanley Ramirez could be the first baseman for the next two to three years.
Who would have thought those words could ever be said when we were waiting for 2016 to begin. Myself included thought playing Ramirez at first was going to be another disaster like last year. His lack of effort on left field made the idea of his involvement in nearly every ball hit in the infield a frightening idea. Then he showed up in spring training without a first baseman glove and seemed uninterested in getting ready for this position I thought perhaps the team might push David Ortiz of to retirement as soon as the could.
Then spring training came and went and to be honest it was largely uneventful. He wasn’t the greatest first baseman of all time, but he wasn’t drawing attention to himself for bad plays either. He made an effort each play to cover of even dive for a few plays down his side and honestly I was feeling like he might not embarrass himself, but that was only spring training.
The start of the season though has largely followed a much similar pattern and Hanley has made me think for the first time that Boston could ride out his contract with him playing full time first base. Perhaps by the time his vesting option kicks in he might be someone pushed to DH, but unless things fall apart or he becomes exposed defensively then he could stay there through 2018. While his footing and play still needs some work he’s making the effort to get things done. That is the part that is really impressing me.
(Defensive metrics are unavailable and with so few games it’s worthless anyway)
The ability to keep Ramirez at first means the Red Sox have wide open possibilities to fill the shoes of David Ortiz. There are quite a few bats becoming available after the 2016 season including just seen members of the Blue Jays Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Both are atrocious fielders based on defensive metrics like UZR and would be much better suited for the DH position.
TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 14: Jose Bautista #19 of the Toronto Blue Jays throws his bat up in the air after he hits a three-run home run in the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers in game five of the American League Division Series at Rogers Centre on October 14, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
Bautista is the interesting player who might see better aging by switching to the less demanding DH spot. He’s still a great hitter and not someone to shy from filling the role left by Ortiz. He’s going to take a big contract as the rumor is the Blue Jays view his next contract as a three year deal for $75 million similar to the Yoenis Cespedes deal, but perhaps taking the risk on an extra few million or an extra year might make Bautista agree to the move.