By now most of the baseball world is well aware that former Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez is about to sign a five-year deal with the Boston Red Sox worth a reported $90 million. And while no one will argue that a healthy Hanley Ramirez and his career .300 batting average is one of the most feared hitters in the game today, it is his inability to stay on the field that makes this deal a huge risk for Ben Cherington and the Red Sox.

Over the past three seasons, Ramirez has averaged only 123.6 games per season. The rest of the time he was on the disabled list for a variety of injuries that included his back, hamstring, shoulder, calf, thumb and wrist – and of course the broken rib he suffered during Game-1 of the 2013 NLCS that took him (and the Dodgers) out of the series.

Ramirez missed an average of 39 games in each of the last three seasons with the Dodgers.
(Photo credit – Jason O. Watson)

The obvious upside to Ramirez going to the Red Sox (or any other American League team) is that he can be used as a designated hitter. In fact, with David Ortiz having celebrated his 39th birthday just last week and in the final year of his contract, Ramirez may very well become the Red Sox everyday DH in 2016. (Note: Ortiz has options for 2016 and 2017 but they are based on his ability to pass a team physical).

When the Dodgers made a $15.3 million qualifying offer to Ramirez there wasn’t anyone who honestly believed that he would accept it – and why should he, no one has ever accepted a qualifying offer. But while the Dodgers will sorely miss Hanley’s bat and his tremendous clubhouse presence, they will not miss his often errant throwing arm. Ramirez’s .961 fielding percentage in 2014 was dead last in the National League among shortstops who played a minimum of 108 games at the position.

With Ramirez now officially gone, the Dodgers currently do not have what can be considered an everyday shortstop on their 40-man roster. The big question, of course, is: Does Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman really want to sign a free agent shortstop (of which there aren’t many available) to a three or four-year contract when Dodgers top shortstop prospect Corey Seager is, in all likelihood, a year (or less) away from the big leagues?

If push comes to shove, the Dodgers could use Alex Guerrero or Erisbel Arruebarrena to fill the void at short until Seager is ready. In fact, they may not have a say in the matter. When Guerrero’s agent Scott Boras got former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti to agree to a four-year / $28 million deal for his client, the contract stated that Guerrero must be on the Dodgers 25-man roster in 2015 and cannot be sent back down to the minor leagues without his permission. This is yet another example of why Boras is considered among the best in the business and why Colletti no longer in charge of such decisions.

Unless the Dodgers decide to go out and sign a free agent shortstop there is a very good chance that Alex Guerrero will be their everyday shortstop in 2015.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

There have been rumors that the Dodgers are looking at 33-Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez as a possible candidate to take over for his namesake, but it’s hard to believe that Friedman or Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi would be willing to offer anything beyond a two-year deal for a guy with a career triple slash of .277 / .314 / .405 and 99 home runs in seven MLB seasons. Alexei has one year / $10 million remaining on his current contract with a $10 million club option for 2016 with the ChiSox, but it is believed that they are looking to move him for the right prospect package.

The bottom line is that Hanley Ramirez is now officially gone and there is nothing that anybody can do about it.

…unless your name happens to be Andrew Friedman, that is.