by Ernie Paicopolos, Editor-In-Chief —Former Red Sox 1B/DH
Hanley Ramirez has made about $160 million during his MLB career. He'll be fine. But it
is troubling that no teams have come calling for his services in the more than month-long period of his availability. He would come
really cheap and have a decent chance of contributing against (at a minimum) left-handed pitching. Ramirez claims that his hiatus is the result of his own choice—but that's likely just bravado talking. So, the question needs to be asked—did last week-end's reporting of a
FaceTime call to Ramirez from an alleged drug-dealer have a chilling effect on his employment opportunities?
If it did, it shouldn't have. After all, the only thing linking Hanley to this guy is that his phone number was in the contacts file on his cell phone. Granted, that fact alone is sketchy, but it should not keep Hanley from a major league job. If his image has been forever tainted by this weird event (and the "reporting" that surrounded it), it's a cautionary tale for everybody (including us) that wants to get you all the Red Sox news we can as quickly as we can. We all need to do a better job on this score.
