The Dodgers announced that they have made a one-year, $15.3MM qualifying offer to Hanley Ramirez.
The move was widely expected, as Ramirez will hit the open market as arguably the top position player in this year’s free agent class. The 30-year-old Ramirez batted .283/.369/.448 with 13 homers in 128 games this season, and while he’s been injury prone over the past few years, he comes with the upside of being one of the game’s best offensive players, as he was in 2013 upon activation from the disabled list. Ramirez slashed an otherworldly .345/.402/.638 with 20 homers in 86 games that year and is a lifetime .300/.373/.500 hitter.
Ramirez will have a week to accept or decline the offer, though that’s little more than a formality as he will clearly decline in favor of a multi-year free agent deal. If he signs elsewhere after rejecting the offer, the Dodgers would receive a compensatory draft pick at the end of next year’s first round.
His status, along with that of others who have been recipients of the qualifying offer, can be monitored in MLBTR’s Free Agent Tracker.
Dogger27
Another player cross off the mets list. That’s 2 guys in one day! What’s next the Red Sox asking for 2 top 50 prospects for yoneis Cespedes?
NYM_Lagares
Did you honestly think the mets were gonna get him in the first place? Also you shouldn’t want to go after Cespedes.
theophilus166
He’s not accepting the offer.
Scott Berlin
If the Mets signed Hanley then what would happen to D. Wright?
docmilo5
Take the QO Hanley!
Rally Weimaraner
I hope your joking…
docmilo5
I could really care less. As a Mariner fan I know he’s not ending up in the NW. I have a really hard time seeing him get 5 years or more with his injury history. He’s going to find it a tough market if he doesn’t take the QO.
UK Tiger
Hes without doubt one of the premier position player Free Agents on the market this winter.
I dont think knocking back the QO (as he most certainly will) will greatly affect the multi-year offers hes going to receive at all.
docmilo5
Well then, I hope he signs with the Yankees. They don’t have enough 30+ year olds that can’t avoid injury.
Rally Weimaraner
Again I hope you’re joking, Hanley is the best offensive player on the market, is 30 and plays the infield. I would set 5/75 as his floor with 7/130 (Choo’s contract) as a more likely target.
docmilo5
Choo’s contract has worked out well, hasn’t it. 5/$75M on Hanley would be reasonable. Guys aren’t aging like they did 10 years ago. 7/$130M that would hurt and that can me a GM killer of a deal in 3 years.
Daniels will be lucky to keep his job in the next two years with the contracts he’s laid on Texas.
matt mccarron
Other then Choo and Elvis, what contracts are you referring to? No one could of expected Prince Fielder to get hurt, your talking about a guy who missed 20 games in the prior 7 seasons. Plus Elvis can fix his career.
Flash Gordon
docmilo5 makes a strong point when it comes to these larger deals that are being handed out to guys in their 30s or late 20s. Andrus’ deal is fine but everyone knew Choo’ s and Fieder’ s deals were bad business. So was Cano’s, so was Hamilton’s, so was Pujols’ etc. etc. etc..
Rally Weimaraner
Im not claiming these deals are good ideas just that teams give them out and will continue to give them out to top offensive players like Hanley. Any way you look at it baseball teams are making more and more money each year and that is reflected in the size of the player’s contracts.
docmilo5
The difference with Cano and Hamilton, Fielder and Pujols? Cano has played 160 games forever. Cano isn’t heavy like Fielder. He may have a couple of injury seasons, but not for some time. Pujols already had the foot thing going on when signed in LAA. Hamilton had one full season.
Flash Gordon
I obviously do not know exactly where Cano’s contract goes in the long run……maybe he has second half of his career that looks alright and he can DH or something later on. Most reasonable aging curves don’t project the last 3, 4 or 5 years of that deal to be great. Their is a reason the Mariners were even close to that salary range. They are at a disadvantage trying to draw top free agents to the northwest and they are in a window right now with Felix. No one else would have gone over 200 million for Cano.
docmilo5
The way I think about Cano is he’s had a great health history. I don’t see a reason why he’s not giving Jeter performance thru age 40. Yes, Jeter wasn’t worth his contract in performance down the stretch, but I don’t think anyone would say he wasn’t worth every penny he ever made.
Cano is going to be collecting his 3,000th hit in a Mariner uniform. He only needs 130 hits a year for 9 years to reach 3,000. If the M’s win win at least one ring in his stay, there is no reason he can’t go into the HOF as a Seattle Mariner. All of that is worth that contract.
Flash Gordon
Maybe but remember that Jeter’ s 10 year deal grabbed his prime years as he signed it in his mid twenties. Cano’s 10 year deal started in his early 30s. The Yankees gave Jeter a 3 year deal with an option that they more or less picked up. No other team would have given Jeter that last deal: the Yankees did because he was the face of the franchise after 5 world championships. The Mariners do not have the same luxuries with their payroll the Yankees do. Despite that they will be paying Cano until he’s 41.
docmilo5
Exactly. So, let’s look at this as a 7 year deal with the 3 year extension already picked up. Cano should be getting to 3,000 hits in that 7th year. It’s going to be a huge accomplishment being the first 3,000 hit player in Mariners history. The last 3 years are gratitude for coming in the first place. At the same time, I don’t expect Cano to age like say… Griffey Jr.
Flash Gordon
No he would be declining right now if he were Griffey and his WAR was a stellar 6.4 last year according to rWAR. He needs 1150 hits or so to get to 3000 which would be a lot for a guy entering his 32 yo season but certainly not out of the realm of possibility. The Mariners need to win it all and that’s what it’s going to come down to for Cano. Fairly or unfairly that’s what this will come down to given his contract.
docmilo5
Yes, 1164 more hits are needed. That’s only 129 hits per year over 9 years. No reason Cano shouldn’t be putting up 180 hits a year for 6 years. That gets him under 100 hits for 3 years. He should get into the 3100 or 3200 range in total hits if he stays healthy.
The M’s need to spend money this year for Cano to do that. They really need to land Lester and VMart. Otherwise, they may as well trade Felix and Cano and re-tool.
docmilo5
That’s 0 for 3. Fielder? Everyone expects Fielder to age poorly. He’s too big for his frame.
Flash Gordon
5/75 would be decent reason to not accept QO, no?
Portland Micro-Brewers
Like in Choo’s case there always seems to be one or two GMs willing to jump off the deep end on top of the market guys. Choo was a corner outfielder, historically a Middle infielder with pop and an eye like Hanley is miles more valuable. How many SS OPS+ @ 132 in their walk year? It’s also his career OPS+ so there’s reason to believe he can sustain it through the majority of a 5-6 year deal. That said I hope my favorite team’s GM stays away from any offer over 3 years.
docmilo5
OPS+ isn’t a counting stat like WAR is it? Handley had a big WAR this last year. He was a monster. His WAR over the last 5 years is 2.72 on average. His WAR was 3.5 this year and 5.4 the year before. That’s great, especially with his D. But the three years before that his WAR was nearly replacement level. I wouldn’t want to sign him for more than 3 years, either. Can he stay healthy the next three years when he’s going to give his best value?
Portland Micro-Brewers
OPS + isn’t a counting stat, it’s on base percentage plus slugging percentage with the parks played in factored in(100 is league average, 132 would be 32 percent better than average). The 5.4 WAR hanley put up in half of the 2013 season (86 games to be exact) is crazy ridiculous.
docmilo5
It sure is.
Who can afford to sign a guy that has had the injuries like he’s had? The Yankees have too many guys already that miss time in Beltran, McCann, A-Rod, Teixiera, Ellsbury and Sabathia.
Boston is loaded with SS talent but could use a 3rd baseman. Would they bring him back to Boston for the 3rd time in the org? Can the Mets afford to buy a guy that may break down? Who is his market?
Portland Micro-Brewers
I see the Yanks getting him but now that you point it out, his market demand seems low especially with so many more cost effective options out there at SS and 3B. We will see what Adam Katz can get him.
docmilo5
Please, let the Yankees sign him. They can’t have enough old broken down players. 😛
matt mccarron
No way he gets 130M. Not with Asdrubal, Drew and Jed on the market as well.
Rally Weimaraner
Astrubal, Drew and Jed can all play SS better than Hanley but they can’t hit nearly as well. Offense is at premium.
matt mccarron
You can get similar production out of Sandoval if you’re that desperate for offense. Hanley isn’t going to be able to handle SS for very much longer.
Portland Micro-Brewers
Sandoval will get at least 5 years and 100 mil, has weight issues, is less versatile and has a career OPS 60 points lower than Hanley (He’s also 2 years younger). 130 seems high but MLBTR predicted Hanley would get 6 years, 7 isn’t outrageous. I’d rather have Sandoval at lower years though and I’m a Dodger fan.
PoseyTheGreat
I hope Hanley stays with the Dodgers and he is their starting SS.
dieharddodgerfan
I like Hanley, but he really is a DH now who can occasionally play SS or 3B. I can easily see him get 5 yrs and $90 mill from an AL team.
stl_cards16
A DH? He’s bad at SS but I find it hard to believe he can’t play an average 3B.
dieharddodgerfan
He may be able to, but its certainly no given. His arm is a little questionable. He has a bit of a hitch in his delivery and he can sail the ball when he has to hurry the throw.
If I had to guess, I’d say he may be a slightly below average 3B (but better than he is at SS).
Portland Micro-Brewers
Those problems fix themselves a lot of time when a player moves from SS to 3rd. The throw may still be long from 3rd but fielders rush more from SS given the range they cover. His arm strength is fine, he has problems when he moves and then sets his feet, seems like his throws tend to sail high. I expect he could learn to be a decent 3B but you’re right I wouldn’t expect great and he may just not have the concentration or desire to play above average defense.
BlueSkyLA
Hanley has three defensive problems that won’t fix themselves. First is limited range, which isn’t a huge issue at 3B. The second the thowing hitch previously mentioned. The third and most important is that playing position is beating up his body. This player has DH written all over him.
BlueSkyLA
And also the double-clutch. He sometimes fails to make plays because he can’t seem to get a good grip.
grabarkewitz
I would not be surprised if he ended up at first base shortly. A team like the Red Sox could take a shot at him if they think he can be better than Napoli and he is the in-house replacement for Ortiz when he finally retires. I can also see Detroit (replacing VMart) and the White Sox taking long looks at him. I doubt the Yankees are crazy enough to stick him at short for the kind of money he will be asking.
dieharddodgerfan
I could see Hanley playing some 1B for an AL team, but he still would likely be primarily a DH before too long.
My concern about Hanley is his body is breaking down with age. That screams just putting him as a DH to limit the wear and tear on him to mitigate chances of getting injured.
Joe Johnson
Welcome too New York Hanley….5 year….118mil
i'm me ..
Hanley will end up in Oakland.