Remember back in 2012 when the Boston Red Sox orchestrated the mammoth August waiver trade involving Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett with the Los Angeles Dodgers? Well, it could happen again before the MLB's Aug. 31 deadline.
Third baseman Pablo Sandoval and outfielder Hanley Ramirez cleared waivers recently, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, and new president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is in the driver's seat.
"They are free to be dealt but their contracts are prohibitive," Cafardo writes. "The Padres were interested in Sandoval last offseason, but after their poor free agent signings it's unlikely they would pursue Sandoval again. Ramirez appears to be untradeable. But consider this: Dombrowski was able to deal Prince Fielder two years after giving him a nine-year, $214 million contract, so there's hope."
"That case history - the willingness to trade a player who was forced into the field by the presence of a full-time DH, and to include a subsidy to do so - is intriguing at a time when the Red Sox have David Ortiz, Pablo Sandoval, and most notably, Hanley Ramirez, whose future is in many ways the most complicated situation confronting Dombrowski in his new role as president of baseball operations," Alex Speier of the Boston Globe added.
Trade rumors previously suggested the Red Sox and Padres could orchestrate a Sandoval-for-James Shields swap since both veterans have big contracts and could be of greater value to the other club. Shields has already cleared waivers, but the Padres have been hesitant to make any deals after it was speculated they'd be big sellers before the non-waiver deadline. Nonetheless, Sandoval is definitely tradeable in the right scenario.
As for Ramirez, he's been slumping offensively and his defense has been awful, so it's unknown who might want him or how Dombrowski could get rid of him (he's owed nearly $70 million from 2016-2018). Dombrowski reiterated how important defense was in today's era during his introductory press conference with the Red Sox, and at that particular moment, Ramirez was the first person that came to mind.
"The Red Sox may have a pretty fair outfield of the future, as Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo are starting to show their potential. Mookie Betts is already set," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. "If so, they'd need to figure out whether Hanley Ramirez is a third baseman or first baseman next year."
Would the Red Sox, now under new front office management, really consider shifting Ramirez in the field again? The constant moving is unlikely to help him get acclimated on the defensive side of the ball.
Trade rumors have yet to indicate the Red Sox making any such moves before Aug. 31, but Dombrowski has a week to orchestrate some major changes if he's already looking toward 2016 and beyond. The signings of Sandoval and Ramirez were not of his doing, which makes it much easier for him to part ways with one or both of them, especially with former GM Ben Cherington now gone.
While the market is slim, there are some teams that could use either of these players. The Red Sox would probably have to eat a good chunk of these salaries, so some smaller market teams could be in play.
One team that comes to mind is the Los Angeles Angels. They are going to need a third baseman after this season since David Freese will hit the open market and they could even use an offensive boost right now. The Angels have fallen to third place in the AL West (5.5 games behind the Astros and 1.5 games behind the Rangers) and are dead last in the MLB with 65 runs scored this month.
Whatever the case, the beginning of the Dombrowski era in Boston could feature the departure of the team's marquee free-agent signings from the past offseason.
