Just so we can wrap this all up in a neat little package, all that stuff about Hanley Ramirez being really stubborn about his forced move to third base? It’s not an issue anymore. Or at least, if it is an issue, Hanley Ramirez is keeping it to himself. From Jon Heyman:
Hanley Ramirez Officially Fine With Third Base
[...] Ramirez’s public message was that he loved third base and was looking forward to the challenge. “It’s 200 percent OK,” Ramirez said. “I feel it in my heart. I feel it in my mind. I feel it in my body.”
Asked how he thinks he’ll be at third, he said, “Great ... the best.”
It’s possible that Ramirez is seething on the inside. He certainly didn’t want to be moved off of shortstop, and just because he’s accepted it doesn’t mean he’s thrilled about it. But, what’s he going to do? Force a trade? Half-ass everything? Provoke discontent within the clubhouse? He might grumble every now and again, especially as he learns that third basemen get different grounders than shortstops do, but Ramirez probably isn’t going to do anything too destructive. That would be, in a word, stupid.
How Hanley Ramirez's glove adjusts to third base will be a worthwhile story to follow. How Hanley Ramirez's brain adjusts to third base will probably not.
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