The Cleveland Indians have agreed to terms with Hanley Ramirez on a minor league deal.
Hanley Ramirez is now a member of the Cleveland Indians. This is quite a surprising statement since Ramirez was released by the Boston Red Sox during last season and did not catch on with another team. Cleveland now has another player in the mix to provide some clarity on where some players will see time in the field.
While Hanley Ramirez has primarily been a first baseman over the last few years, it his experience as a designated hitter that provides some intrigue. Ramirez took over the designated hitter role in Boston after the 2016 season. That spot was previously occupied by David Ortiz, his retirement left a vacancy and Ramirez filled it.
Hanley Ramirez has been relatively average at the plate over the past two seasons, but even just average would be a welcome sight for Cleveland.
2017: 133 games .242/.320/.429/.750 23 home runs, 24 doubles, 62 RBI
2018: 44 games .254/.313/.395/.709 six home runs, seven doubles, 29 RBI
While Hanley Ramirez was not great in 2018, what is important is the success of Ramirez against left handed pitching. In 45 plate appearances Ramirez had the following slash line .333/.378/.476/.854. While it is small sample size, it is still encouraging.
For a team full of left handed hitters, a right hander that can hit well against left handed pitching is quite an asset. Being able to keep opponents from trotting out left handers all game long can help over the long run. Last season it appeared that the Indians faced every left handed pitcher on the face of the earth. With another righty in the lineup, this will not be the case this season.
The signing of Hanley Ramirez can also solidify the positions of others. There was talk about Carlos Santana potentially seeing time in the outfield. This was due to his desire to play in the field rather than DH. Ramirez can now take the DH role and allow Santana to primarily see time at first base. What this also does is put Jake Bauers in the outfield. When weighing the options of Santana or Bauers in the outfield, Bauers is the preferred option.
Can Hanley Ramirez be a valuable bat for the Indians? Only time will tell. First he will have to show he can still hit Major League pitching. With Ramirez being out of the game for so long it is possible he has accumulated quite a bit of rust. If he does not work out it is on to the next guy the Indians can sign to another similar low-risk deal.
