Covering Manny Ramirez from January 2008 until June of that year was a blast.
He finally started talking on the record for the first time in years while working out at Athletes Performance in Phoenix, proclaiming over and over again that he was going to play as long as Julio Franco. Along the way, there was the talk of winning Gold Gloves, the science of hitting and various other bizarre takes on the world. But something happened. Manny became something else.
There was the much-publicized incident involving the pushing of traveling secretary Jack McCormick in June, followed by Manny's public lambasting of Red Sox ownership just a few hours before the All-Star Game in New York. The impetus for the change? Ramirez was consumed with whether or not the Red Sox were going to pick up his $20 million contract options for 2009 and '10. Ultimately, it led to a final week where the entire team had to vote whether or not it was a good idea to keep one of the game's best hitter around for their pennant drive.
And you know who was right in the middle of that discussion back in the final days of July 2008? The current manager of the Red Sox, Alex Cora.
The reason we bring this up is that the Red Sox have designated the guy who had been Cora's No. 3 hitter their lineup, Hanley Ramirez, for assignment. This means they have seven days to either find a trade for the first baseman/designated hitter or release him. (Considering his $22 million price tag for this season, which the Sox will be on the hook for if released, I doubt there will be any trade.)
Watching Hanley the last few months reminded me of those entertaining days of Manny in 2008. Both were the life of the party, but still seemingly keeping one eye on last call.
Cora witnessed that whole thing in '08. It wasn't the first time a player became insecure due to an impending contract option, as was also evident early in 2003 with Pedro Martinez's contract situation. But it's important to learn from history, and that's exactly what might be going on here.
Hanley's popularity this season was still at an all-time high, which was a chief reason many were just starting to take notice of how much his production fell off. In his last nine games, Ramirez had hit .135 with a .293 OPS and no extra-base hits. It had lowered his batting average to .254 after entering May at .330.
He had proclaimed throughout April this was going to be his best season since 2009, having discovered the merits of Tom Brady's world en route to newfound health. But Hanley was only getting worse, while the guy he was keeping on the bench, Mitch Moreland, only got better. As former Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said when talking about the potential convoluted roster situation, "I don't envy Alex."
But, as Cora can attest, things could have gotten appreciably worse. And that's why we are where we are.
The Red Sox could have kept running out Hanley as they had for the first two months, hoping he turned things around while trying to justify not playing Moreland and/or suffering in the outfield when Jackie Bradley Jr. became the odd man out. Or Ramirez's playing time might be diminished, flip-flopping on the depth chart with Moreland. And that's where things would have potentially gotten uncomfortable, as they did with Manny.
Hanley needed 497 plate appearances for his $22 million option for 2019 to kick in. He was well on his way, totaling 195 for the season (compared to Moreland's 118). At first blush this season, it seemed like a no-brainer. He would get his additional year, but that would be OK because of this TB12-led rejuvenation. That conversation was changing in a hurry.
Ramirez's time in Boston was, to be kind, uneven. He ended up hitting .260 with a .777 OPS and 78 homers in 1,623 games. The disaster was that first year of him playing the outfield was tempered by his production and performance at first base the following season. But then last year the shoulders became an increasing issue, leading to more problems than solutions. So perhaps it's fitting that this final run was just another roller coaster ride.
We don't know how these next few months would have panned out if they stuck by Hanley. We do now know the Red Sox had no desire to find out. They had been there, done that.
