A few days ago my friend and colleague Stacie Wheeler from the Lasorda’s Lair blog site wrote an interesting piece on when she expects the Dodgers to move Hanley Ramirez from his natural shortstop position over to third base – a move that most Dodger fans believe is inevitable. And while I don’t necessarily agree with everything that Stacie had to say on this topic, it certainly brings one thing into very clear focus – there are a lot of different opinions on Hanley Ramirez and his future with the Dodgers.

Before any of this shortstop/third base stuff can even be considered, we must all remember two very important things about Ramirez: 1) He is entering the final season of his inherited six-year/$70 million contract (from the Marlins); and 2) He has yet to appear in more than 86 games in a season as a Dodger. In other words, regardless of how good he is (and he is very good) or where he plays, he needs to be on the field (as opposed to the DL) to be of any help to the Dodgers. Granted, his first season with the Dodgers was significantly short because he didn’t even arrive until July 24, 2012, but his 2013 season was a disaster for him and for the Dodgers (especially his injury during the playoffs) – this in spite of the alien-like numbers he put up when he actually was in the Dodgers lineup.

When healthy, there isn’t a Dodgers player who brings more offense to the team than Hanley Ramirez.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

There has been a lot of speculation and rumors that the Dodgers are in serious negotiations with the 30-year-old Samana, Dominican Republic native towards a contract extension – including rumors claiming that the two sides are not that far apart. But there are other rumors out there claiming that if an agreement cannot be reached before opening day or perhaps even before the first spring training game (scheduled for one week from today) that Ramirez will terminate all negotiations (if they are in fact even happening) and that he will instead choose to test the free agent market at the conclusion of the 2014 season.

Perhaps I am way off base here but I do not feel that there is a sense of urgency to get this deal done within the next week or even before opening day. My opinion as to why I feel this way may be equally off base as well. Whereas there was definitely a sense of urgency to get the Kershaw, J.P. Howell, Brian Wilson and Juan Uribe deals done, I feel a calmness about getting the Ramirez deal done. I say this because Ramirez has been extremely outspoken about the fact that he wants to remain in L.A. for a very long time.

“What can I say? I don’t think about that right now,” Ramirez told reporters last week when asked about a contract extension. “I want to win, man. This thing will take care of itself. There’s nothing I can do about it right now. I want to be a Dodger for life.”

Even though we all know that ‘it’s all about the money’ in today’s game and that so-called ‘hometown discounts’ rarely exist anymore, you have to feel that Ramirez is sincere in his claim that he really wants to be here – and how can you not feel good about that?

During Monday night’s inaugural spring training DodgerTalk radio show, I sent a tweet to former MLB manager and show co-host Kevin Kennedy asking if he thought that a deal with Ramirez might happen before opening day. Although Kennedy did not answer my question on the air, he was kind enough to reply to my tweet immediately following the show:

Interestingly, there was another response to my tweet, this from an acquaintance of mine who is an avid Dodgers and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes fan:

Now I have to admit that filling the pending Derek Jeter vacancy in the Yankees infield in 2015 with Hanley Ramirez never once even crossed my mind, but I can certainly see where it might have crossed Ramirez’s mind. That being said, I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around the idea that the Yankees would even consider filling the vacancy with a 31-year-old shortstop with significantly declining range to what would undoubtedly be a minimum of a three-year but more likely a four-year deal. I have a much easier time accepting that the Dodgers would go the route that both Stacie Wheeler and Kevin Kennedy suggest – that Ramirez would be a better fit at third base in the coming seasons.

Whereas Wheeler suggests that Hanley is still a minimum of two full seasons away from becoming the Dodgers everyday third baseman, I can see it happening as early as 2015 and quite possibly even the latter part of this season if Juan Uribe struggles offensively, as he did terribly in 2011 and 2012. With an apparent glut of shortstop options in Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arruebarruena and top Dodgers prospect Cory Seager looming large on the Dodgers horizon (not to mention Dee Gordon, Justin Sellers and a handful of non-roster invitees currently in Dodgers big league camp), it’s looking like the Dodgers shortstop position will be well taken care of in the near and perhaps even long-term future. As such, moving Ramirez over to third base could happen sooner rather than later.

With the Dodgers yet to play even their first spring training game it is far too premature to even guess how all of this will play out. But one thing is for certain – there are no shortage of opinions on how Hanley Ramirez will play into it all.