Impact Analysis: Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers

August 4, 2008 @ 13:27:37

By Joe Book
Edited by Tim Heaney and Nicholas Minnix

Hollywood may have a new hero. After nearly eight years of delivering home runs and headlines in the Northeast, outfielder Manny Ramirez was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-way trade. The swap also sent Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jason Bay to Boston and four players to the Pirates. The deal materialized rather quickly and was completed on the afternoon of the trade deadline Thursday, July 31.

While free agency looms large for Ramirez after the 2008 season, the Dodgers bought Ramirez for practically nothing. The club has to pay only the $1 million trade bonus in his contract, leaving the boys from Beantown to swallow the remaining $7 million on his current deal. Ramirez agreed to waive his no-trade clause if his future team would drop the original contract's options for 2009 and 2010 at $20 million per season. The Dodgers obliged, meaning Ramirez might bolt the City of Angels for an American League team that needs a designated hitter. He recently expressed interest in ending his career with the Dodgers, but his history of, well, being himself, should prevent pundits from setting this in stone.

It isn't often that you see a team firmly entrenched in a playoff race - the defending World Series champions, no less - trade away a slugger that has hit 20 or more home runs every season since President Bill Clinton's first term ... but Ramirez isn't your average slugger.

Part of Boston's decision to deal Ramirez came from his voracious appetite for creating controversy. Manny stirred up enough problems between his confrontations with a team employee over a ticket request and his dugout altercation with first baseman Kevin Youkilis earlier this season. However, while rumors swirled that he wasn't happy with his current contract situation, Ramirez continued to hit until the day he was dealt. He seemingly hasn't been affected by the switch; he's 8-for-13 (.615) in Dodger blue with two home runs and five RBIs in his first three games at the cleanup spot.

Manny by the numbers

Ramirez was batting .299 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs in 100 games for the Red Sox this season; he currently ranks fifth in Red Sox history with 274 home runs. From 2001-06, Ramirez averaged 39 home runs and 119 RBIs, cementing his place among the greatest hitters in Boston history. At 36 years old, Ramirez might possibly be commencing a career twilight - his power numbers have been on a decline since 2005 - but he still offers enough offense to help any team, actual or fantasy.

Despite moving to a park in which he never had a regular season at-bat before Friday, Aug. 1, Ramirez has been a consistent performer no matter the venue. His nearly identical career averages of .314 at home and .312 on the road suggest that Ramirez doesn't discriminate against, or just doesn't care, where his bats are used. Although he has 471 career RBIs in 590 career games at Fenway Park, he has produced with equal success away from Boston. Ramirez has also fared well in his relatively limited time against NL opponents. He has a career .304 batting average with 47 homers and 143 RBIs in 165 interleague games.

Dodgers impact

The Dodgers have reshuffled their outfield with Man-Ram's arrival. Outfielders Andre Ethier and Andruw Jones will move to the bench as the Dodgers field a starting trio of Ramirez in left field, Juan Pierre in center field and Matt Kemp in right field.

Pierre's abilities in the leadoff spot and on the bases have been manager Joe Torre's main motivations for keeping him in. Kemp has been ablaze at the plate, garnering a hit in 20 of his last 21 games, including a stretch of 19 consecutive contests. Jones is having a nightmarish season (.161-2-13 in 69 games) but will be forced to correct his problems from the bench.

Third baseman Andy LaRoche, who moved from the Dodgers to join his brother Adam in Pittsburgh, immediately takes over as the Pirates starting third baseman. LaRoche hit with solid power in the minor leagues (95 homers in 1,796 minor league at-bats), but that hasn't translated to the majors yet; he has hit just .200 with three homers and eight RBIs in 70 at-bats this season. He'll be part of a youth movement in Pittsburgh that includes outfielders Nate McLouth and Brandon Moss, who was acquired from the Red Sox in the same deal. LaRoche was splitting time with Dodgers infielder Blake DeWitt before the arrival of third baseman Casey Blake, so the new job opening should give him more of a chance to develop.

Pitcher Bryan Morris, another part of the Dodgers' contribution to Pittsburgh's future, is a highly touted right-hander who was pitching for the Single-A Great Lakes Loons at the time of the trade. The 21-year-old was 2-4 there with a 3.20 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 81 2/3 innings pitched (17 starts).

Fantasy baseball outlook

The Dodgers don't feature nearly as much firepower in their starting lineup as Boston, so switching zip codes won't necessarily mean a bulge in Manny's stats. He won't have designated hitter David Ortiz to protect him, nor will he have the likes of Youkilis, second baseman Dustin Pedroia and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury living on the basepaths in front of him. Ramirez will have to rely on less established players like Kemp and first baseman James Loney to keep opposing pitchers honest against him. Blake should add more of a veteran presence, though.

Pierre has been an effective table setter for many years, so RBI opportunities should still arise. However, with the Dodgers ranked in the bottom four in the National League in runs scored, home runs and slugging percentage, they'll need Manny to lead them to the National League playoffs - and fantasy owners will need him to reach theirs. Manny hit .347 in July and is 21-for-50 (.420) since the All-Star break, so the Dodgers receive a masher with a warm bat. This move doesn't alter Manny's value much in any fantasy setting; he's still an elite fantasy outfielder, and he seems to be enjoying his new environment.

Kemp remains a valuable fantasy commodity owned in virtually all leagues. With the new outfield arrangement, Pierre should be owned in all leagues, too, although he could sit occasionally. Ethier loses value in mixed formats but retains some worth in NL-only setups. Jones shouldn't be owned outside deep NL-only games.

LaRoche's increased job security gives him more value in all NL-only leagues and places him on watch lists in deep mixed formats. Morris only has value in full-retention keeper leagues at this point and has potential as a mid-rotation starter when he reaches the majors.

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Joe Book
Joe has been with KFFL since 2007.

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