Posts tagged HanleyRamirez at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Chicago White Sox (41-32) at Chicago Cubs (46-28) - 1:05 PM ET

Friday was the first time that both Chicago's baseball teams entered a series against each other in first place. The initial game did not disappoint, with Aramis Ramirez smacking two home runs, including the walk off extravaganza in the ninth to win the game for the Cubs. But the Cubs have more surprises for the White Sox. Before the game yesterday, Ozzie Guillen took another shot at Wrigley Field, saying that under the right field bleachers, there are "rats out there are lifting weights" while the assembled media laughed. Little does Guillen know that Lou Piniella is thinking about using a couple of those rats in key pinch hitting situations today. Then ... who will be laughing?

After giving Hanley Ramirez a six-year, $70 million extension, the Marlins announced thatre they we done handing out multi-year deals ... which makes you wonder what Dan Uggla has to do to catch their attention. After hitting 27 and 31 home runs his first two years in the league, Uggla is currently on pace for 50 dingers this season, hitting .316 in the process.

Even if he falls off his torrid pace, he's almost certainly a lock to join Alfonso Soriano, Jeff Kent and Roger Hornsby as the only second basemen to hit at least 27 home runs in three or more seasons. Needless to say, that's pretty elite company. So why does Ramirez get all the long-term love while Uggla lives from year to year?

Only the Marlins know for sure, but it seems to me Uggla's pedigree is still being held against him. Originally a lowly 11th-round pick by the D'Backs in 2001, Uggla was blocked in Arizona's organization -- he was older than most of his competition as a 25-year-old in Double-A in 2005, and he was left off the 40-man roster the following winter.

The Marlins rolled the dice and made him a Rule 5 pick in 2006, and even though he's done nothing but produce at an All-Star caliber level ever since, it's like they're still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't think it ever will, and if the Marlins don't wise up and lock him up now, they probably won't be able to afford him when he does hit the open market.

The growing trend in baseball is for teams to sign their young players to contract extensions in hopes of locking them up before they become too expensive. While it's a smart financial move for all teams, it's generally a real good move for teams with lower payrolls. The Indians started it with Grady Sizemore a few years ago, then the Rockies followed suit with Troy Tulowitzki. This season it's been Evan Longoria and Hanley Ramirez reaping the rewards of baseball's new trend.

One smaller market team that is yet to adapt to this new philosophy is the Kansas City Royals, but that doesn't mean they don't have some young, talented players who wouldn't mind an extension.

"It's just kind of a feel thing," general manager Dayton Moore said. "Obviously, there has to be a willingness on both sides. We talk about a lot of things, but we're still very early in the process."

The Royals are loaded with young players who project as key players for years to come. Of those, the closest to free-agency are pitcher Zack Greinke and catcher John Buck. Both are on track to enter the market after the 2010 season.

Neither has been contacted by club officials about possible extensions.

After years of trading away every good player developed through their system, could the Florida Marlins finally be getting some sense? Reports out of Miami indicate that the team will sign Hanley Ramirez to a six-year, $70 million contract in the coming days. The deal would lock Ramirez into a set salary through his arbitration years and the first few years of free agency at a number well below what he could earn on the open market.

While it's a shame the Marlins didn't think to do this with Miguel Cabrera, it's heartening to see the benefit to keeping young MVP candidates in house. Yes, Ramirez isn't much with the glove but so long as he posts offensive numbers in the neighborhood he's been living in the past two seasons, he's worth every penny of that extension. And, with a new stadium set to open in 2011, it's imperative the Marlins show more commitment to building a winner than they have in the past.

If the deal goes as planned, it would be the first time the Marlins signed one of their own players to a multi-year extension since 2005. Of course, each of the players they signed back then, Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca, ended up in different threads one year after John Hancocking the bottom line. Ramirez, at a reasonable price, will still be quite tradable throughout the life of the contract and would command a king's ransom of prospects. There's not believed to be any no-trade clauses included in the deal.

Last night FanHousers were debating if we'd want Jose Reyes or Hanley Ramirez as our shortstop. The vote went in Reyes's favor, though it was close, mostly because of defense. If you're going to talk about which one player you'd like to have, regardless of position, Ramirez ranks higher than Reyes.

But does he rank higher than Reyes's teammate David Wright? Not to Bill James, who named Wright as the player he'd pick to start a franchise. That rankled Mike Beradino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

He accuses James of naming Wright because the Red Sox once traded Ramirez and then pulls out some bigger guns. Wright only has a better on-base percentage because he walks more, and as every writer knows that doesn't help at all, and isn't a better fielder. Beradino tears down the myth.

Defense? Wright won a Gold Glove last year, but only four third basemen exceeded his 21 errors. Ramirez won no fielding awards, but he made only three more errors than Wright while playing a more demanding position.

Actually Ramirez did win a fielding award. He was named Worst Defensive Shortstop by the Fielding Bible. We'll likely have a cure for cancer before we have a universally accepted metric for evaluating fielders but using errors is the equivalent of using leeches.

You can defend a choice for Ramirez as the player you'd most like to have. He's got a ridiculously high ceiling, he'll move positions and defense will limit his value less and just plain homerism. But errors? Sheesh.

(H/T BBTF)

If you're new to these proceedings, click here and here to catch up on what you've missed.

If you're not into the extended catch-up, you've missed a six-run Mets fourth and a two-run Josh Willingham home run and some entertaining fat men dancing. Johan Santana's on his way to his first Mets win, we'll see if he can get it after the jump.

Hopefully you're moving over from the Innings 1-3 coverage but if not and need to catch up, check it out here.

Johan Santana's been everything the Mets expected to this point but he's getting everything he can handle from Mark Hendrickson. On a basketball court, that wouldn't be surprising but we're playing baseball here. Let's see how both men do as they start facing people for the second and third time. For now we're scoreless and heading into the top of the fourth.

If you're looking for a feeling of rebirth, there ain't much better than Opening Day. Blank slates abound, last year's failures are but a fleeting memory and everybody's in first place. Nope, it doesn't get much better than that.

Unless, of course, you have all those things plus your first look at the best pitcher in baseball wearing your team's uniform for the first time in a game that counts. It's Johan Santana's Mets coming out party and the Marlins are playing both host and cannon fodder for the man who has launched World Series dreams all across Queens.

I'll be here for every one of his pitches (and Mark Hendrickson's too!). Sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Florida Marlins (0-0) vs. New York Mets (0-0) - 4:10PM Est.

Let me just start off the first On Deck of the season by pointing out that it's extremely difficult to pick only three games on Opening Day. Every game you look at on the schedule is deserving of a spot here today, but I can only pick three. We'll start off in Miami where the Mets look to put the collapse of 2007 behind them starting today, and they'll be turning to the crown jewel of their offseason to get it done. Johan Santana will be making his first start as a member of the Mets, and the Marlins are hoping to spoil the party. Of course, for the Marlins, they're starting a season without Dontrelle Willis on the mound, and Miguel Cabrera at third for the first time since 2005. They still have Hanley Ramirez, though, so not all hope is lost. Taking the ball for the Marlins this afternoon is Mark Hendrickson, who may in fact be the worst Opening Day starter in the history of baseball. Oh, and let's not forget, these two teams got into a bit of a brouhaha during the final days of the season last year. So there may still be some scores to settle out there today.

Your official The Dugout Guide to This Year in the National League East:

• The Mets will win a lot of games.
• The Phillies will win a lot of games.
• The friggin Florida Marlins will win the division with nothing but Luis Gonzalez and a big snapping trading card binder with pictures of actual professional baseball players in it.

Yesterday's Spring Dugz (sprung dugz) dealt with character growth and the development of personality that comes with time. Today's Spring Dugz (springing dugz) is the exact opposite of that, because until Jeffrey Loria turns into a winged monster and breaks the bonds of his life the Marlins are pretty much boned. But boned in a good way, where they win World Series championships.

After the jump, the long road out of Eden.