There is no question that a healthy Hanley Ramirez is an absolute game-changer – one need look no further than his absence from the 2013 NLCS to prove this. Or better yet, take a look at his 2013 regular season stats when he hit .345 with a .402 OBP and .638 SLG for an alien-like 1.040 OPS. These are MVP-caliber numbers, to say the least. (Ramirez finished 8th in the 2013 NL MVP voting).

Unfortunately, there is another glaring number in Ramirez’s 2013 stat line that is the reason why he did not win the 2013 NL MVP Award and most likely the reason why Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti has been reluctant to sign Ramirez to a lengthy contract extension – Ramirez appeared in only 86 of the Dodgers 162 games last season (53%). The rest of the time he was on the DL for a serious right thumb injury he suffered in the final game of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, a strained left hamstring injury he suffered in San Francisco and a shoulder injury he suffered in Chicago.

Within days of returning to the Dodgers line-up from his thumb injury, Ramirez returned to the DL for a strained hamstring. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Even though Ramirez has repeatedly said that he wants to be “a Dodger for life,” he and the Dodgers were unable to agree on a contract extension deal before the season started and it now appears that it will not happen before season’s end when Hanley becomes a free agent.

Why?

Although the Dodgers have played only 33 games thus far in 2014 with Ramirez appearing in all but two of them (once as a designated hitter), he has already had issues with his left hand after being hit by a pitch and he had to exit a game a week ago with a bruised right thumb – an injury that he insists in not related to his WBC injury. And while none of these recent injuries have landed Ramirez on the DL, there is little doubt that they have affected his game defensively and once again support the belief that Ramirez cannot remain healthy for any extended period of time.

In the 30 games that Ramirez has started at shortstop, he has committed a team-high five errors (mostly throwing) out of 121 total chances for a .959 FPCT – which ranks him 24th in all of baseball among everyday shortstops. To his credit, Ramirez has gone 11 games without committing an error, so perhaps his hand and thumb are no longer bothering him.

On the other side of the ball, Ramirez isn’t doing much better with a triple slash of .254/.329/.429. He has hit three home runs, has 13 RBIs and leads the National League in doubles with 13. He has struck out 26 times in 126 at bats (20.6%) and has walked 13 times. He is mired in a 6 for 33 slump (.182) on the current nine-game road trip.

In spite of his offensive struggles, Ramirez is currently leading the NL in doubles with 13 – one ahead of Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

It’s no secret that any potential contract extension for Ramirez hinges on his willingness to move from shortstop to third base – a move that Ramirez has already hinted that he is willing to make. The big question now, however, is: Are the Dodgers willing to roll the dice by offering the 30-year-old Ramirez a multi-year deal (probably something in the four-year/$60-$80 million range) when they have 2012 first round draft pick Corey Seager within two years of being MLB-ready? Granted, Seager is a natural shortstop, but it has been widely speculated that he will eventually be moved over to third base, possibly as early as this season. If Ramirez is given a multi-year contract extension, it will effectively block Seager from the big leagues.

So why not bring Seager up in his natural shortstop position and just move Ramirez over to third? This might have worked had the Dodgers not signed Juan Uribe to a two-year/$15 million contract extension during the off-season. In contrast to Hanley’s struggles at the plate, Uribe is smoking hot right now hitting .325 (second to only Dee Gordon’s .342) and has a very good .359 OBP – not to mention that he has been absolutely brilliant at the hot corner defensively.

There’s also the issue of the Dodgers signing Cuban shortstop-turned-second baseman Alex Guerrero, who is absolutely tearing it up at Triple-A Albuquerque right now, and the signing of fellow Cuban and true shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena, who is currently assigned to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. Whereas Seager just celebrated his 20th birthday on April 27, Guerrero is  27 years old and Arruebarrena will be 24 years old on May 25. Additionally, both Guerrero and Arruebarrena played professionally at the highest level in their native Cuba while Seager has yet to play above Advanced Single-A.

And then there’s the aforementioned Dee Gordon, who is having a career season thus far and who has rightfully earned the everyday second baseman job for as long as he can continue to put up his All-Star-caliber numbers. The Dodgers would be foolish to make any changes at second base right now with Gordon leading the team in hitting and his .375 OBP – second only to Yasiel Puig’s .397. Dee also leads all of baseball with his 19 stolen bases and is tied for second in the National League in triples with two. Gordon has also been outstanding defensively at second base.

Although no one in the Dodgers organization has (nor will they) come right out and say that they want to see if Hanley can remain healthy before offering him a multi-year contract extension that will affect the franchise for years to come, this is exactly what they are doing – and you can’t really blame them. When you sign a guy for upwards of $15 million a year, you expect him to be on the field for at least 140 games (or more), yet over the past four seasons Ramirez has averaged less than 120 games per season.

The point to all of this is that because of the combination of all of these things, what was once thought to be one of Colletti’s top priorities (after re-signing Clayton Kershaw) now might not happen at all.