The latest news out of Boston focuses on Hanley Ramirez, but it isn't regarding trade rumors or anything of that nature. It's actually about the Red Sox's plan for him in 2016.
New president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and interim manager Torey Lovullo discussed shifting Ramirez to first base next season, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal, and the veteran told Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald he would indeed be making the move.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports mentioned such a possibility last week and made note of it again earlier today.
hanley is taking grounders at 1B. a move there makes sense. betts, bradley, castillo appears to be their future OF.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) August 25, 2015
This is believed to be Dombrowski's first directive in his new position.
Ramirez signed a four-year, $88 million contract with the Red Sox in the offseason and the deal also includes a vesting option for a fifth season. He's owed $22.5 million per year from 2016-2018, which will make him very difficult to trade before the Aug. 31 waiver deadline or even in the offseason. Speculation heightened regarding a Ramirez trade after he and Pablo Sandoval cleared waivers last week and general manager Ben Cherington left the organization.
The Red Sox have had a disappointing season and Ramirez hasn't done much to make it better. His defense in left field has been among the worst in the MLB (-2.5 dWAR) and although he's batting .254 with 59 runs scored, 19 home runs and 53 RBIs, he has an OPS of just .731 and hasn't hit a home run since July 11.
It's clear Ramirez is of no use in the outfield with the presence of Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo, so the Red Sox needed to make a decision about where to move him if he wasn't going to be traded.
Ramirez had only played shortstop (1,077 career games) and third base (99) before arriving in Boston. If he gets reps at first base in 2015 then he'll have played two new positions for the first time in his career at 31 years old.
Ramirez's antics in the outfield will no longer be an issue for the Red Sox.
