Why The Yankees Signing Hanley Ramirez Would Be A Mistake

As free agency looms, and with the hole the Yankees have at short, one name who’s probably going to be bandied about is Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez, especially with J.J. Hardy being re-signed already. When there’s a big free agent, the Yankees are going to be mentioned, but adding Hanley would not be a good idea.

First of all, he shouldn’t be playing shortstop. He actually was a worse defender by defensive WAR than Derek Jeter last year, and with all the questions surrounding Jeter’s defense over the past few years, why bring a shortstop to replace, who’s WORSE defensively than Jeter was. Han-Ram was routinely taken out for defense and replaced by guys like Miguel Rojas. The Yankees do have Brendan Ryan who could be that guy if necessary but why risk it?

Secondly, Ramirez always has some sort of nagging injury. Since 2011, he’s played in more than 130 games just once time. Now moving to the AL with the DH could help that, but why take the risk?

Thirdly, the Yankees refused to give Robinson Cano the money he wanted last year. The Yankees have signed all sorts of players to all sorts of long contracts. Why give another guy on the wrong side of 30 a long contract? We all have seen how this movie before, there’s no reason to add another chapter to it.

The Yankees have too many holes to fill to invest so much money into just one player. I’d rather see them take the Hanley money and split it among say Asdrubal Cabrera and keeping Chase Headley. The Yankees have been burned before by being too top heavy and Hanley would just be another example of that. Don’t get me wrong, he’s good, but not a great fit.