The Boston Red Sox have not had much success in the efforts to land an ace starting pitcher so far this offseason, but in all other areas, they have done pretty well. They have filled out the back end of their starting rotation nicely, and they have upgraded their offense at a couple of key positions.
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Boston started the offseason off with a bang by adding the two best bats available in free agency. They signed Pablo Sandoval to play third base, and they snagged shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who will probably play left field in Boston. According to Bleacher Report, Ramirez is also going to bat cleanup for the BoSox.
The team wants to add more protection behind David Ortiz, who has manned the third spot in the order for a decade now in Boston. The last time the Red Sox had an Ortiz-Ramirez pairing batting third and fourth, they won two World Series titles in four years.
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While Hanley Ramirez does not boast the power that Manny did, manager John Farrell is still excited about the possibilities.
"I think Hanley gives David some protection behind him," Farrell said. "Then you start to create some protection and we want to keep [Pablo] Sandoval on the left side of the plate as much as possible, so if you sandwich him in between Ramirez and [Mike] Napoli you start to have a formidable middle of the order where you're going left-right-left-right all the way through there."
Ramirez had a bit of a down year by his standards last season, but he still hit .283 with an .817 OPS, although he only hit 13 home runs. However, many suggested that Ramirez's contract situation took its toll on him throughout the year. 2014 was the first time in Ramirez's career that he was set to become a free agent at season's end.
Ramirez also set the National League on fire two years ago in 2013. Despite playing through injuries, Ramirez hit .345 with a 1.040 OPS and 20 home runs in just 86 games. If the Red Sox get that version of Ramirez (and he stays healthy), then he figures to be a massive upgrade in their lineup.
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