Breaking Down the Hanley Ramirez Trade

(Credit: Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)

A couple of seasons ago, there was a sensation in southern California thanks to the acquiring of a multiple-time All-Star. The superstar was Manny Ramirez, and Hollywood was dubbed 'Mannywood.' The Dodgers corralled Manny from the Boston Red Sox, and went on a run to the NLCS in 2008, thanks in part to Manny. They basically would do the same thing in 2009, but cut their ties in late 2010. 

Two years later, almost the exact same situation as occurred. Instead of Mannywood, however, this will go under a much different name:

Hanleywood.

Late last night, in case you do not already know, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Miami Marlins shortstop/third baseman Hanley Ramirez, along with relief pitcher Randy Choate, for pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and RHP Scott McGough. Ramirez has been the target of many, calling him lazy, underperforming, and not the player he used to be. 

Sound familiar? If so, it should.

Let's do the usual thing on here, and break down this trade:

What This Trade Means for Los Angeles

The Dodgers were in desperate, desperate need for another bat. Even with the likes of Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, their lineup has continually struggled to score runs, hit for average, and do all the things that teams in contention for a playoff spot usually are able to do. So they had to do something and acquire someone, and that is clearly what they did here in getting Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez is currently hitting .246 (as of last night) but the thing is Ramirez is not so far removed from being one of the best hitters in baseball. He has been plagued by laziness, yes. That is tough to deny at this point. But a change of scenery could do wonders for him, and that is why I believe this will work out for L.A. They may not get the 2009 N.L. batting champion and runner up to the MVP award, but if he even plays up to 75% of that, the Dodgers will be a major threat with how well their pitching staff has performed this season. With Randy Choate, the Dodgers get another arm in the bullpen and that is certainly not a bad thing at this point in the season. Choate has been very good this season; the southpaw has a 2.49 ERA, 27 K and a 0.987 WHIP in 25.1 IP. Very good numbers for a relief pitcher, to say the very least. I absolutely love this move for the Dodgers, if everything pans out, of course.

What This Trade Means for Miami

So much for changing the culture in Miami, eh? Some (who shall remain nameless) picked the Marlins to win the World SEries, and do well in attendance this season. Well, at this point of the season neither of those things have happened, and who could balem the fans for not showing up? Jeffery Loria is one of the biggest shams in the current sports spectrum, as he seemingly has duped the city into Miami into attempting to care about baseball again. As if they actually ever have. Their World Series aspirations have proved to be nothing short of a farce and I am not sure what they are thinking at this point. Certainly though, Hanley has been a bit of a problem and that might be an exaggeration. They have unloaded his entire $38 million contract which does help them with all due respect. For a team that had such high hopes (within themselves) going into the season though, to concede after just four months is mind-boggling. This is just yet another questionable move by an egregiously porous franchise.