2:43pm: Ramirez underwent an arthrocopy and debridement. It is not expected to prevent him from being ready for a full 2018 campaign.
12:50pm: Details remain unknown, but Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston tweets that it’s believed to be a “relatively minor” surgery.
12:06pm: Red Sox first baseman/DH Hanley Ramirez underwent surgery today on his left shoulder, he announced. The details of the procedure, which comes as something of a surprise, are not yet known.
Shoulder issues plagued Ramirez throughout the season, but he had not previously given any indication that he was set to go under the knife, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com notes on Twitter. And president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said less than a week ago that he was not aware of any players who’d need surgery. (Of course, it was later announced that lefty Robby Scott underwent a procedure that very day.)
Ramirez, who’ll turn 34 in December, is owed $22MM next year. If he takes at least 497 plate appearances and passes a physical, he’d also trigger a $22MM vesting option for the 2019 campaign, though odds are the club won’t allow that to happen unless Ramirez is playing well enough that the extra year doesn’t seem like a burden.
Boston will hope that Ramirez can bounce back from another rough season. He was productive in 2016, but otherwise has given the organization below-average offensive work since joining the organization before the ’15 campaign.
This year, Ramirez managed only a .242/.320/.429 slash with 23 home runs over 553 trips to the plate. He did not show significant erosion in plate discipline, with a typical 9.2% walk rate and a slightly elevated 21.0% strikeout rate. And perhaps there’s some hope that a reversal in fortune on batted balls will help Ramirez make up lost ground. After all, he managed only a .272 BABIP, well below his career .322 measure, despite a batted-ball mix that mostly mirrors those of recent seasons.
Ramirez was signed for his bat, and perhaps it can still come alive with a healthy shoulder. If not, he won’t hold much function for the Red Sox. Though he once ran well, Ramirez racked up -5.3 runs on the bases in 2017 by Fangraphs’ BsR measure. And at this point, the former shortstop is only an option at DH or first base. He wasn’t able to play the field much at all this year due to the shoulder problem, but perhaps there’ll be greater availability in the future.
Regardless of Ramirez’s availability, the Red Sox will likely look for more pop over the offseason to come. But HanRam’s outlook matters, too. If he’s healthy and capable of lining up at first base, perhaps the team would have greater positional flexibility in adding a bat. At this point, though, it seems likely that the Boston organization will assume it needs to add a player capable of playing first in 2018. Indeed, it’s even possible to imagine pursuit of multiple hitters, depending upon the post-surgical prognosis.
Boston loves awful contracts lol.
1.2 WAR over 3 seasons….
True. Lackey, Gonzalez, Crawford, Porcello (yes 2016 was a fluke) , Price , Pablo, Hanley. Boston is the poster child for massively awful contracts. They were lucky the Dodgers wanted Adrian really bad.
porcello Is bad but ok Adrian has been worth it and price doesn’t look good but is TBD the rest are god awful
Please explain how Adrian Gonzalez was a bad contract.
Ooh, a debridement…my legs just shut like a clam.
Was Dombrowski aware of this surgery?
Dombrowski better be careful because he’s trying to use the same old b.s. and treating the Boston fans/media as he did in Detroit, Florida, and Montreal but the bigger markets back east demand honesty and you ain’t in the Midwest anymore Toto.
I was thinking about this last night. So the Sox want power in the middle of the lineup? Lets be honest, they have a 2 year window right now. Might as well go all in, as you are going to have to reset it in a few years anyway. Here is a plan to fix all the holes in the team for next year.
First off, trade Hanley, as well as Jackie Bradley Jr., Eduardo Rodriguez, Michael Chavis, and Josh Ockimey, to the Marlins for Stanton and Gordon. Nobody eats any money. Sox get an above average second baseman while Pedroia is out, and then get to take the workload off of Pedroia when he is back. They also get the power bat they need in Stanton. Move Benintendi to center and Stanton to left.
Marlins would 100% accept this proposal. They get salary relief (Hanley will see his deal run out at the end of this season, no way it vests), A top 3 defensive CF who hit 26 bombs just a season ago, a number 2-3 SP under control for 3 more years, a SS prospect who has loads of power, and a 1B prospect who projects to be a Will Myers clone.
Sox then trade Groome, Houck, Dalbec, Johnson (pitched a CGS in the majors this year), Owens, and Sam Travis to the Tigers for Michael Fulmer. Detroit would accept this deal because they get an ace in the making in Groome, as well as 2 other prospects that would be in their top 15. They also get a starting 1B in Travis. Johnson and Owens are good back end/depth guys. Boston would be buying low on a young ace who has lower value because of a recent injury, but will still contend for the CY.
Sox then sign J.D. Martinez to a 5/125 deal to DH.
Eric Hosmer to a 6/162 deal to play 1B.
The payroll would stay around $250MM which the Sox have shown they are more than willing to spend.
Check this team out.
A rotation of
1, Sale (Ace)
2. Fulmer Ace)
3. Price (Ace)
4. Porcello (Ace, won the cy young a year ago, had a down year this year)
5. Porcello (Above average #2)
A lineup of
1. Dee Gordon (2B)
2. Mookie Betts (RF)
3. Giancarlo Stanton (LF)
4. J.D. Martinez (DH)
5. Eric Hosmer (1B0
6. Andrew Benintendi (CF)
7. Rafael Devers (3B)
8. Xander Bogaerts (SS)
9. Christian Vazquez (C)
Kimbrel lurking in the bullpen.
Meant to put Pomeranz in at #5 in the rotation. Pomeranz is a #2 on most staffs but if the Sox make these moves, he would be #5.
I have a hard time believing Hosmer is worth 27M a season, and that anyone will give Martinez 25M just to DH
That is the maximum they should offer without going too high on the payroll. I would agree they will both sign for slightly less.
And, who says that Martinez would even want to DH when he is constantly projected as a corner outfielder with average defensive skills.
And, he’s 29! This guy the earth is flat is dreaming!
JD Martinez might be the worse defensive right fielder in the game. He is maybe a left fielder in a park with a little left field like Boston. He isn’t anywhere near average defensively.
thats WAY too much for Hosmer to start.
Secondly, the Marlins don’t get much out of that proposal. JBJ will leave for FA prior to the Marlins being relevant, and EROD+prospects can be topped by someone else.
Plus, there is 0 chance that Hanley waives his limited NTC to go back to Miami. Literally 0. He doesn’t want to go lose, plus he’d end up a bench spot (they aren’t benching/trading Bour) plus he wanted out at the end of his tenure because of constant losing and they moved him to 3B
Now It makes sense he believes the world is flat? What’s in his peace pipe?!
1. Travis isn’t a starting 1B
2. Miami got rid of Hanley for many reasons and Mattingly wouldn’t want him anyway
3. Those are horrible trades..Fulmer would get higher top 100 prospects and Gordon isn’t part time.
4. Your payroll is way beyond their means.
I’m guessing you turned on Force trades and no salary cap on MLB the show?
Too ridiculous to even comment on this long post earth is flat.
Have you ever even watched a baseball game?
Nothing but delousion. What next a rotation of Kershaw, Sale Bumgarner and Kluber?
I actually kinda like your Marlins stuff from both sides, but if you look at any stat other than last year’s ERA, you’ll see Michael Fulmer is incredibly overrated. He’s more of a 3 than an ace statistically and now he has health issues. I would not want to deal with him at all, especially Boston’s top prospect
Rethink your entire life and existence.
Besides all the ridiculousness in this post, the dumbest thing is that you called porcello an ace
With a name like the earth is flat and this insane post one would wonder if you need to get your mess checked
Its fair saying this is a far stretch, but what if they sign J.D. Martinez to DH, and share time at 1B with Hanley (1B/DH split)?
I agree that JD shouldn’t play OF, I was actually thinking if we get JD to also sign a platoon first baseman for Hanley and to bench Ramirez on some days.
Not that it matters but doesnt it look like the surgery was on hanleys right shoulder in the picture he tweeted
Can the doctor also surgically remove him from Boston’s roster?
Hope Hanley is on Medicaid
Hope this improves his ability to hit the ball. Couldn’t care less whether he’s able to play first again, as I kind of hope they go after Hosmer. Hell, at this point, I’d love for them to say the hell with the Lux cap altogether and go for Hosmer and Martinez both, and trade JBJ for some prospects. Realistically, the Sox have next year to win it, and 2019 as a last-ditch effort. After that things get really bleak for us with no real studs left in the stable other than possibly Groome, and a LOT of guys hitting free agency.