With Ramirez Away From The Team, It's "Pile On Hanley" Time

Did a bell go off in the Red Sox press room, triggering some Pavlovian response from the writers who cover the team? Over the course of three days, five different sportswriters weighed in on what a horrible teammate Hanley Ramirez is and has been - and how important it is for the Red Sox to get rid of him this winter. All five articles appeared as soon as Ramirez left the team (with the club's permission) to continue rehabbing his right shoulder in Florida.

It is beyond question that Ramirez was a huge disappointment this season. He had a poor season at the plate (.291 OBP) and was atrocious in left field. But these five stories - which paint a clear picture of a lazy clubhouse cancer who may be faking his injuries - suggest something much more odious.

I expected to read the usual hatchet jobs, but because these stories come mostly from writers who aren't gossipy shit-flingers, I'm left wondering if all this smoke means there actually is a fire burning somewhere. In the case of Ramirez, it doesn't seem necessary for these writers - with a nod from management - to grease the wheels to run yet another player out of town, not that the player needs to be universally loved to get that treatment.

Gordon Edes, ESPNBoston, September 28, 2015: "Hanley Ramirez Goes Home; Will He Ever Come Back?"

There has been nothing about Ramirez's late-summer injury saga that can be easily explained. The injury to his left shoulder? We all witnessed his early-May collision with the side wall in Fenway and the subsequent drastic drop in power. But the right shoulder? No one, by my reckoning, has ever pinned down its cause, with cumulative wear and tear a dubious candidate. It was described as day-to-day for some time, and then the Sox put him on the disabled list, something you don't even have to do in September because rosters expand.

Ramirez continued to work out at first base and had some batting-practice sessions that were epic -- balls crushed with ferocious power in Fenway Park. He told at least one reporter he expected to play as soon as he was eligible to come off the DL. But then? Nothing, soon to be followed by word that Ramirez was being shut down for the season. The shoulder wasn't coming around. Not to mention Ramirez wasn't exactly acing his classes at first base. ...

Perhaps there are some of you who believe this is much ado about nothing, piling on a guy who isn't playing anyway. Perhaps what it really represents is a meeting of the minds: Ramirez thinks he has nothing left to give, and there's nothing the Sox want from him. Best, then, to go home.

And plan on a change of address in 2016.

Nick Cafardo, Boston Globe, September 29, 2015: "Sending Hanley Ramirez Home Is Best For Red Sox"

If there was ever a player who didn't fit the chemistry, the approach, or the future of the Boston Red Sox, it's Hanley Ramirez. There is no positive that could come from Ramirez being around his teammates in the final few days of the regular season. In fact, it's a good thing that he is away.

Why would you want the highest-paid player on the team — who has exhibited no leadership, who has been out of the lineup for extended periods with injuries, who has exhibited "I don't care" body language on the field and off it, who by my count spent two days working on his left-field play during the regular season and really never got better — around the team? ...

Ramirez has carried this reputation wherever he's been. The Marlins loved his talent, but when it came down to deciding whether to center their team around him, the answer was no way.

The Dodgers were awed by the offensive ability, signed him, then couldn't wait to see him go. ...

There's $68.25 million left on his deal through 2018. That's a lot of money the Red Sox need to have go away. But really, it's money well eaten. ...

And he's only 31. Even though he plays like 41. ...

Nothing that has happened this season has changed the perception of him. In fact, everything has been right on cue.

I don't think there's a player on the Red Sox who misses him, other than Ortiz, who seems to be friends with him, but obviously has had very little influence on him.

Michael Silverman, Boston Herald, September 30, 2015: "Pablo Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez Missing And No One Cares"

It's one thing to disappoint from a production standpoint, which both Ramirez and Sandoval did, but it's stunning that the pair of high-priced imports now feel irrelevant to the present and especially the future of the Red Sox. ...

Since Red Sox doctors advised Sandoval to stay in Boston until he got past his pneumonia, there's no reason to second-guess that call. ...

Ramirez feels like a different story. ...

[T]here is still some disconnect about the urgency to have Ramirez return home rather than stick it out with the team and its trainers for just one more week.

First of all, if Ramirez wanted to be with his teammates, he could have squawked about the decision and he'd be here.

Second, if the decision was not left in Ramirez' hands, it speaks pretty loudly and clearly to the Sox seeing little value in having him around as they play out the string.

You can almost hear echoes of what one uniformed member of the team mentioned as an aside in the middle of the summer about how he worried if Ramirez' lack of hustle was going to be a negative influence on all the impressionable young players in the clubhouse. ...

Chad Finn, Boston.com, September 30, 2015: "It's Time For Hanley Ramirez To Go"

The player and club agreed Monday that it would be best for him to rehabilitate his mysterious right shoulder injury at his home in Ft. Lauderdale rather than with the Red Sox. He is not coming back this year. If he comes back next year, it must be in a visiting uniform.

The current scenario would seem odd for pretty much any player other than the enigmatic Ramirez. The Red Sox are saying all the right things about beginning his rehab process, but ... The No. 1 priority this winter – perhaps other than finding a No. 1 starter – is getting him out of here for good. ...

The concept of a coach-killer in professional sports is a familiar and timeless one. The superstar player who is so talented that the all me-first peccadilloes and team-splintering behavioral issues are tolerated is an archetype. It will remain a mainstay so long as a premium – financial and otherwise – is put on victory. ...

Ramirez was once a superstar. A slugger rather than a slug. ...

The decision to move Ramirez to left field should have worked. But Hanley didn't do the work – the commitment wasn't there, ever.

Alex Speier, Boston Globe, September 30, 2015: "How Did The Red Sox Salvage Something From A Lost Season?"

On Aug. 25, the Red Sox announced that Ramirez would start working at first base with an eye toward a possible move there by the end of the season. Ramirez played that night in left field in a 5-4 loss to the White Sox, and hasn't spent a day in left since. (Ramirez served as designated hitter on Aug. 26 and has been sidelined since by a shoulder injury.) ...

Thus ended a failed experiment whose harm extended beyond the field. Ramirez was, of course, a disaster in left, exceeding any worst-case assumptions. When it signed him, the team hoped he would be serviceable in left for perhaps a season or two, then transition to first base or DH.

But serviceable never happened. At a time when a staff expected to produce tons of ground balls instead ended up having a bunch of pitches belted in the air, the consequences of Ramirez’s deficiencies were severe.

Yet the ripples from Ramirez's defensive struggles had more far-reaching implications, straining clubhouse relations between Ramirez and the coaching staff due to his unwillingness to work to improve. That dynamic contributed to Ramirez being "ostracized" from his teammates, in the words of one source familiar with the situation. ...

The tension was palpable and counterproductive. ...

But the shift to Dombrowski accelerated the timetable. With a new voice willing to state the obvious – Ramirez wasn't an adequate left fielder – and no prior history with Ramirez, Dombrowski could commit to an immediate move, diluting a clot of tension that had restricted the Sox for much of the year.

I should note that Finn has backed away from his column a bit. In a post at the Sons of Sam Horn message board, he wrote: "I was too harsh. Not my best stuff. I actually like him more than most, though you sure as hell couldn't tell from that."

With the Red Sox's outfield set for 2016 - Rusney Castillo, Mookie Betts, and Jackie Bradley - and David Ortiz still producing as the team's DH, there is no room for Ramirez on next year's team. The only possible place for him is first base, but his chances of success at that position are questionable, at best.