Sorry for the delay folks. I took a break from the real world last week, and I had promised myself and my family that I would not touch electronics. I had some writing withdrawal which lead to tremors and night terrors, but I think that was caused by some other un-diagnosed medical issue that I’m too lazy and prideful to see a doctor for. My girlfriend (she might be imaginary) convinced me to watch The Bachelor with her this past week. Potential spoilers? Let’s be honest here, if you’re reading Razzball you likely don’t watch The Bachelor. I’m not using names because I don’t remember their names, and I strongly believe everyone has that one Facebook friend that follows the show and posts about it all over their social media. I was familiar with the concept going into my viewing of the show, but in case you’re not… there’s one guy choosing between many women finding one that he loves and looking to get engaged with. So you’d expect that until he picks which girl he wants, he would hold off saying I love you to anyone. With two girls left, he tells BOTH of them he loves them. That’s a big no-no. Don’t be this foolish! If Razzball can teach you anything, it’s don’t be a d*ck. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he proceeded to tell both women that he loves the other girl too. Let’s pause here. Does this guy have a brain? I mean come on… Whenever I tell a woman that loves me that I love another woman, I expect her to die inside, not want to be with me more and be my future wife. Gentlemen, this guy is stupid. Don’t be this guy. Dating advice, at it’s finest, courtesy of the Razzball Squire…
Today, we’ll take a look at someone who once made everyone moist just by thinking of him. He was a first round pick his first five seasons in the MLB and has dropped considerably as he ages through his 30’s. His effort level reminds me of the same level a cat makes to play with you and make friends. He was once a 30-homer, 30-steal guy.
It’s Hanley Ramirez!
Grey ranks Hanley at 78th overall, and projects a line of 65/17/72/7/.277. I don’t think I’m taking as much risk as Hanley near pick 78, when there are many safer and higher upside players going around the same spot that play the same position or harder to fill positions. I’m taking Longoria, Cueto, Lester and many others Grey has ranked under Hanley first. I will avoid him at all costs this season, but if I’m projecting a spot, I’d grab him if he fell far enough I would say maybe around picks 130-150 if I’m feeling adventurous. I owned Hanley in my long running dynasty in his prime and loved it, but this is no longer the case.
“Max, provide me some backup and examples to prove your point! All you’re doing is spewing hate crimes against Mr. Ramirez without making any points!”.
Okay, Okay, I was hoping you’d just take my word for it as if I were the law. Firstly, Hanley is getting up there in age, he’s 32 this year, and has only played one full season in his past five. Injuries alone make me want to drop him to maybe 350-400 at-bats, projected. He might start off strong like he did last year, invigorated from the new acquisition of David Price, but he is very likely to fatigue due to age and start to see some lingering injuries starting mid May. He always seems to tweak a hammy or bang up his knee. Secondly, Hanley is one of the worst fielders in recent history. He started as a barely passable shortstop that proceeded to fail in the outfield (which is far easier), and is now pushed to first base where he might be at Prince Fielder levels. I see a chance that he fails miserably at his new position and they begin to platoon him because David Ortiz is entrenched at DH. This is his last chance to prove he’s not trash. Thirdly, his BABIP was a bit low last season, but he would have hit hit maybe .270 with a league average BABIP. I don’t believe his low BABIP in this case was luck, because he did hit the ball extremely poorly with 24.3% soft contact rate. That is some of the lowest I have ever seen. He had a 19.2% HR/FB ratio, which is 5% larger than his career average, and he was on pace for roughly 25 homers over a full season. With likely 400 AB’s and regression in his HR/FB ratio, I expect, at most, 16-17 homers, and I’m realistically looking at 13-14. His walk rate dropped to an all time low 4.9%, far worse than his career average. His OBP was .291 last season. Have you thrown up in your mouth yet? This is a guy who’s swinging at everything, not striking out a lot, and is still unable to get on base because when he makes contact it’s a dribbler to the 2nd baseman and doesn’t even run to first because he is who he is as a person. He’s stopped stealing bases and speed does not age well. The only thing I could even recommend is to own him for one month then sell him while he’s hot early. 2016 Projections: 52/15/65/.274/5.
Tell Max he’s a pile of turn here on Twitter.
