Editorials

Despite Struggles, Dodgers Need To Re-Sign Hanley Ramirez

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As I look at Twitter and see the comments about Hanley Ramirez, I’m shocked.



To be honest, I can’t believe I even feel the need to justify the opinion of wanting Hanley Ramirez back, but, alas, here we are.

To begin with, I want you to understand I’m a realist — meaning, I understand three things very well: the Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t going to have a $400 million payroll this season, Ramirez gets hurt a lot and he’s is downright brutal defensively. There’s no arguing any of those things.

One thing I don’t think people understand, however, is just how valuable Ramirez is offensively (and just how bad the options are behind him).

In 2014, Ramirez had what seemed to be a down season — he hit just .283 with 13 home runs. In reality, however, despite the down season, he was light-years better than other shortstops around the league.

In 128 games, Ramirez had both the highest OBP (by 30 points) and slugging percenrtage of any shortstop in the league. According to FanGraphs’ wRC+ stat (weighted runs created, designed to quantify a players total offensive value), Ramirez had the most runs created, 135, which was 15 more than Jhonny Peralta, who finished second.

Ramirez had a down year offensively and still had the best offensive season of any shortstop.

Next Page: Ramirez Superior To Alternative Options

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13 Comments

  1. Well said/written. As a fan, I/we can get caught up in the emotion of a moment or frustration of a seemingly failed season, but Jeff Spiegel’s piece snaps all that emotion back to rational, reasonable and a wiser thought.

  2. I don’t think he is a necessary resign. We have the two Cuban guys who can play shortstop.

    1. neither can hit….at least they have not done so at the major league level…

    2. But they haven’t proven much yet. We’ll get a bigger look at them in spring training. If Hanley is willing to take a pay cut in order to win, I’m all for it. If not, he can feel free to sign w/ the Yankees who overpay players.

  3. Love Han Ram as a player….and he was a lot better in the field the last two months…..if healthy, he is awesome

  4. The Dodgers need to get Tulo El Chulo from Colorado to be their Short stop in 2015!

    1. Even if the trade Tulo, they would never send him to LA, and they would ask way to much from us, especially for a talented yet injury prone player.

    2. yeah, and maybe we can get Molina from the Cards….and well other teams are in the mood to trade their best assets we might as well get Cashner from the Padres and Madison from the Giants…

  5. As long as he is okay with moving to third base in 2016 when Uribe leaves and Seager is ready.

  6. I would like to see how his numbers from this season stacked up against third baseman around the league. You have to imagine if we do re-sign him it would be with the thought that he would eventually move to third. I’m not down on the guy I have been following him since he was in Boston’s system and he has been one of my favorites but to imagine him as our short stop for the next 5 years is a scary thought.

  7. To simply put it: Resign Hanley.

    The bigger problem is the bullpen. Sign some bullpen pitchers.

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