Baseball executives were generally surprised to see the Red Sox part ways with Hanley Ramirez so soon into the season.
We hear one team that was ecstatic over the move was the Yankees.
Ramirez absolutely crushed Yankees pitching this season, hitting .389 (7 for 18) with three homers, nine RBIs, and a 1.091 OPS, by far his best production against any team. The Yankees were said to be surprised that the Red Sox would give up a righthanded impact bat.
Because Ramirez is technically still Red Sox property after being designated for assignment on Friday, execs weren’t allowed to speak openly about him, but they did talk about the move on condition of anonymity.
One American League Central executive wondered about the timing, saying, “Why now? I know he was not having a good May, but Hanley can turn it back up. Must have been something else going on. Not sure what to make of it, but he’s a righthanded bat who can change a game. I would guess there would be a few teams interested.’’
Even Dave Dombrowski doesn’t believe the Red Sox will find a trade partner for Ramirez, because the team that acquires him would be liable for his $22 million vesting option next season.
If Ramirez clears waivers and is released, the team that signs him gets Ramirez for the minimum salary and the vesting option goes away.
Still, another GM said, “Hanley is not a guy that pitchers love to face. He can get hot and he’s trouble. I think his whole demeanor has improved from what our organization hears. He’s not the same guy he was in Florida and LA at times, where there some character issues. I think, from what we’re hearing, a relatively good teammate. I think he has a lot of baseball left.’’
In the past week, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Ramirez has worked hard on his hitting amid a slump that’s at 0 for 21. But it just didn’t seem like Ramirez was Cora’s cup of tea, and the prospect of sitting him and reducing his playing time was seen as a possible disruption that Cora didn’t want to deal with.
“I just didn’t expect it,’’ said an NL West GM. “Maybe if things went sour later in the year. I mean, look around baseball and there are guys struggling way more than Hanley Ramirez, so I’m surprised, which leads me to believe there was more at work than meets the eye.’’
Most of the comments we heard were slanted in a similar way. It appears Ramirez will find a home, but among a limited number of teams.
“It’s not going to be a young, rebuilding team, because then you’re taking at-bats away from those who should be getting the at-bats,’’ said an AL West GM. “It has to be a team contending and in a win-now mode. I mean, Boston is in that mode now and they’re getting rid of him, but it has to be a team that perhaps is scuffling a bit offensively.’’
From what we understand, someone close to Ramirez said the first baseman/DH is pretty devastated by the decision. He felt he had become one of the Red Sox’ veteran leaders who was helping the younger Latino players.
Ramirez will now have to do that in a different setting.
COMING UP EMPTY
Why are so many hitters scuffling?
In Boston, there’s lament over Jackie Bradley Jr.’s slow start, but Dave Dombrowski correctly pointed out, “There are a lot of players hitting around .200 and the average batting average in baseball right now is .240.’’
Wow, that’s bad.
What’s going on when excellent hitters such as the Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt and the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter are hovering around .200? How about the Phillies’ $60 million investment in Carlos Santana, always a very good hitter for the Indians, hitting .202 entering Friday? Several other free agent signings — including Logan Morrison (.204), Jay Bruce (.233), Zack Cozart (.235) — are struggling as well.
Then there’s Reds speedster Billy Hamilton at .199 and teammate Adam Duvall hitting .177.
Ian Desmond has always been a very good hitter, yet he’s hitting .181 for the Rockies.
Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis, known for his offense, is struggling at .177. Baltimore slugger Chris Davis has never been a high average hitter, but .152?
Theories abound as to what’s going on.
Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers feels there’s a changing approach by pitchers, more north-south than east-west. He said pitchers are elevating the fastball to a place where it’s hard to get to, and they’re going down in the zone with biting curveballs that are hard to reach.
He thinks hitters are going to have to make major adjustments or they’re going to be left behind.
Hyers also thinks there’s just more information, year after year, on how to pitch to hitters’ weaknesses. It is the Information Age and pitchers seem to be exploiting hitters.
One scout indicated that because of the increased emphasis on launch angle, pitchers are throwing high heat, pitches that hitters can’t elevate.
There’s a reason for everything. In Goldschmidt’s case, he’s been overpowered by fastballs, especially ones 95 miles per hour and faster. Goldschmidt has been one of the best hitters in the game for the last six years.
Rays manager Kevin Cash thinks “there are so many guys now with their own personal hitting coach that you wonder about overload. Everybody’s swing is just getting so mechanical, so broken down.’’
Dombrowski believes there are other factors. He thinks there was an unusually cold spell in April that prevented hitters from getting on track faster.
He also thinks hitters are having a hard time dealing with the higher velocities around baseball.
Dombrowski feels fortunate that J.D. Martinez got off to a hot start because Martinez has been a slow starter in the past.
Martinez leads the majors in hitting pitches that are 95 m.p.h. or faster — at 58.3 percent, according to BaseballSavant.com.
Apropos of nothing
1. The Braves could pare as much as $60 million off their payroll in the offseason, which means they’ll likely be a player in free agency and at the trade deadline, where they will likely go after a starting pitcher. The Braves are heading toward a playoff berth probably a year ahead of schedule. They have the money to go big — perhaps on Cole Hamels, for example — if they so choose.
2. So sick of the “Not Sure What I Took’’ defense when players fail drug tests. But White Sox catcher Welington Castillo took full responsibility and accepted his 80-game suspension Friday. “The positive test resulted from an extremely poor decision that I, and I alone, made,’’ Castillo said in a statement. “I take full responsibility for my conduct. I have let many people down, including my family, my teammates, the White Sox organization and its fans, and from my heart, I apologize. Following my suspension, I look forward to rejoining my teammates and doing whatever I can to help the White Sox win.’’
3. Teams aren’t taking David Price’s carpal tunnel syndrome too seriously. Even though video games are prevalent in all clubhouses and may have caused Price’s carpal tunnel to flare up, Dave Dombrowski didn’t think there needs to be any team-wide rule about video games. Same for Mets general manager Sandy Alderson. A whole generation of ballplayers play video games regularly, perhaps to the point of addiction. For now, teams are just keeping their eyes on the situation.
4. Interesting comment from Brady Anderson when the Baltimore Sun asked him about the possibility of being a general manager. Anderson, who seems to be running the Orioles with Peter Angelos’s sons, said he’s not interested in the everyday GM role currently held by Dan Duquette, but would be interested in being team president. “As far as president and more responsibilities, sure, I’m ready for them,’’ Anderson said. “But that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Dan’s current status. It really doesn’t. They’re not mutually exclusive — my desires and the current GM having to do something else.’’
5. Love that the Red Sox have brought back the Alumni Game. It’ll be held Sunday at 10:30 a.m., prior to the Sox-Braves game. The franchise hasn’t held one since 1993. It’ll be Luis Tiant’s team vs. Dwight Evans’s team, but I must say, Evans got the better of the rosters because he’ll have Hall of Famers Wade Boggs and Pedro Martinez. It’ll be good to see Oil Can Boyd, Scott Cooper, Mike Greenwell, Mike Lowell, Orlando Cabrera, and the others playing again.
6. We like to ask contemporaries of Josh Hamilton about his prowess on the baseball field. This from Rocco Baldelli, who played with Hamilton in the minors: “When he won the AL MVP, he was just a shadow of what he used to be.’’ Amazing quote. Hamilton was AL MVP in 2010 with the Rangers with a .359 average, 32 homers, and 100 RBIs. He had an OPS of 1.044. He was 29 at the time. Red Sox assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett was sitting on his team’s bus in the minors when he heard the bus being pelted with balls. It was Hamilton taking batting practice for the other team. “I got out and looked where the bus was compared to where home plate was,’’ Barkett said. “I just couldn’t believe what I saw.’’
7. I don’t really understand the particulars of the recent study commissioned by Major League Baseball and conducted by 10 scientists, math professors, and data specialists to determine why there are more homers. Their findings were that the core of the ball is different than what it used to be, thus creating more distance by “a change in the aerodynamic properties’’ of the ball — specifically, “reduced drag for given launch conditions.’’ The study indicated the home run surge “is not due to either a livelier, ‘juiced’ ball, or any change in batter or pitcher behavior. It seems, instead, to have arisen from a decrease in the ball’s drag properties, which cause it to carry further than previously, given the same set of initial conditions — exit velocity, launch and spray angle, and spin. So there is indirect evidence that the ball has changed, but we don’t yet know how.’’ Got it?
8. Until Ryan Flaherty told me, I had no idea that Braves teammate Nick Markakis was his brother-in-law.
Updates on nine
1. Cole Hamels, LHP, Rangers — Here’s why a contender would want Hamels: In four starts from April 30 to May 22, he faced the Indians, Red Sox, Astros, and Yankees. In 24 innings, he had a 1.88 ERA and .161 batting average against. Hamels is more than willing to give up his no-trade provision for the chance to pitch in the playoff hunt. At 34, Hamels is still very good. His $23 million salary and $6 million buyout of an option for 2019 becomes an issue. But his salary will only be half that by the trade deadline. He’s well worth the investment and it looks like the Yankees could be interested.
2. Christian Vazquez, C, Red Sox — Vazquez’s “pop time’’ (from the catcher’s mitt to the second base target) is 2.10 seconds. That ranks 65th among major league catchers, per BaseballSavant.com. Vazquez is certainly known for his great arm, but his reaction time to second hasn’t been great. The best is Miami’s J.T. Realmuto at 1.83 seconds.
3. Adrian Beltre, 3B, Rangers — The 39-year-old future Hall of Famer has had trouble staying healthy the last two years, but he’s expected to return to the Rangers’ lineup in the next two weeks. If he shows good health, could Beltre be moved to a contending team? There are plenty of teams — the Braves, Cardinals, and Phillies among them — that would love to have Beltre. He has made it clear that he wants to go into the Hall of Fame as a Ranger. It’ll be interesting to see if that precludes him being traded.
4. Adam Jones, CF, Orioles — While the focus is on Manny Machado being traded before the deadline, Jones also could be in demand. After hitting .239 in April he’s hitting .310 in May and looks like a very productive player again. He does have 10-5 status, so he could veto any trade, but he’s likely to OK one since he’ll be a free agent after the season.
5. Shohei Ohtani, P/DH, Angels — To anyone who was skeptical about whether Ohtani could excel as a hitter and pitcher in the majors, well, the proof is in his .319 average, six home runs, and .991 OPS in 104 plate appearances, and 4-1 record, 3.35 ERA, and 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Can he sustain it all season? That’s the next hurdle, but other than the blister issue he had against the Red Sox back in April, it’s been pretty smooth.
6. Kevin Cash, manager, Rays — The prediction here is that Cash will have a long managerial career; he’s that good. He’s receiving a lot of attention for using relievers to start games, but he fully admits, “Look, if we had a rotation like Boston or Cleveland or Houston, of course we wouldn’t be doing this. But we do what we have to do to get 27 outs.’’
7. Yonder Alonso, 1B, Indians — We look at the Indians as a possible landing spot for Hanley Ramirez because Alonso hasn’t had a real good start and the Indians could use some offense, especially since they would only have to pay Ramirez the minimum salary after he clears waivers.
8. Austin Riley, 3B, Braves — The next big Braves prospect? Riley has hit .321 with nine homers and 33 RBIs at Double A and Triple A combined this year. The Braves have had a black hole at third, and could fill it via trade. Or they could wait awhile for Riley. They will give Johan Camargo a serious look there.
9. Dan Duquette, GM, Orioles — All signs are that Duquette will be making the call on deals, even for Machado. The Orioles will definitely be sellers as they transition into rebuilding mode.
Extra innings
From the Bill Chuck files — “On Memorial Day 2017 (May 29), the division leaders were the Yankees, Twins, Astros, Nationals, Brewers, and Rockies. Only Houston and Washington were on top at the end of the season.’’ . . . Also, “This season, Bryce Harper has 43 walks and 38 hits. The record for most hits with more walks in a season is held by Barry Bonds, who walked 177 times and had 156 hits in 2001.’’ . . . Happy birthday, Yoan Moncada (23) and Mark Clear (62).
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
