Hanley Ramírez had Hall of Fame potential

Greatness, in any medium, has tiers. 

Greatness encapsulated for long enough generally merits acknowledgment of the highest honor. In baseball, that highest honor is election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. 

The recently released 2025 Hall of Fame ballot includes first-timers whose respective cases could afford them a congratulatory call in January (Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia); holdovers who have received mixed support in previous years due to past transgressions (Carlos Beltrán, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramírez); the sabermetric darlings (Billy Wagner, Andruw Jones, Chase Utley, Bobby Abreu); and a mix of injury-related what-ifs (Troy Tulowitzki, Félix Hernández, Dustin Pedroia, David Wright).

We’re not going to talk about any of those names here. 

For the first four years of his Marlins tenure, ballot newcomer Hanley Ramírez was one of the premier players in baseball, churning out highlights and earning accolades. However, he'd be fortunate to collect even a single Hall of Fame vote. 

Originally signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 2000, Ramírez quickly adapted stateside, posting a .949 OPS in 67 games between rookie ball and Low-A in 2002. He gradually climbed up the minor league ladder from there. The reigning World Series champion Red Sox gave him the call-up on September 20, 2005, where he struck out in his only two big league plate appearances that season.

During the subsequent offseason, Ramírez would serve as the centerpiece coming back to the then-Florida Marlins in a deal that sent 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett and future World Series MVP Mike Lowell to Boston (they went one-and-done on the 2020 and 2016 HOF ballots, respectively). Included in the package too was Aníbal Sánchez, who would throw a no-hitter and pitch to a 111 ERA+ in parts of seven seasons with the Marlins.

Opening the 2006 season as the club’s starting shortstop, Ramírez put forth a .292/.353/.480/.833 batting line, slugging 17 home runs and stealing 51 bases en route to capturing NL Rookie of the Year honors. His 4.9 rWAR paced MLB rookie position players. Ramirez’s 304 total bases still serve as a franchise record among rookies, with no other Marlin even exceeding 256 since 2010. 

Fortunately for the Marlins' sake, 2006 was just a glimpse of the player Ramírez would soon become. 

The 23-year-old had his full-fledged breakout in 2007. He hit 29 home runs, replicated his 51 stolen bases, and bumped his OPS up 115 points to a robust .948. Had it not been for a dismal defensive season (minus-28 fielding runs, -2.0 dWAR), it is likely Ramírez finishes much higher than 10th in NL MVP voting. For the year, Ramirez hit .332/.386/.562, putting up 4.4 rWAR. 

Entering 2008 with the aim of shoring up his defense at short, Ramírez authored a legitimate Hall of Fame-caliber year. 

Despite leading all MLB position players in errors (22), Ramírez showed overall improvement with the glove (-3 Rfield) while continuing to be a force at the plate, hitting .301 with a career-best 33 home runs and 35 stolen bases. He became one of just two Marlins to ever go 30-30 while also scoring a league-leading, career-best 125 runs thanks to an infield that featured two other 30-plus home run bats (Mike Jacobs and Dan Uggla had 32 each) and Jorge Cantú, who fell one short at 29. It would be his first of three consecutive All-Star appearances. Despite this and the 6.7 rWAR that netted him the first of two Silver Sluggers, Ramírez finished 11th in NL MVP voting for an 84-win team.

The Marlins, recognizing Ramírez’s full blossoming into superstardom, awarded him a then-franchise record 6-year/$70M extension in May of that season. 

If 2007 and 2008 were great, 2009 was the complete distillation of what Hanley Ramírez could be. Posting positives in DRS and Rfield for the first time in his career, Ramírez also won the NL batting title at a .342 clip, earning another All-Star selection and Silver Slugger in the process. Finishing second to Albert Pujols in the NL MVP race, Ramirez’s 7.3 rWAR ranked fourth, ultimately representing a career high.

This was also Hanley's fourth consecutive season of at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. In MLB history, only three players had more 20-20 seasons through age 26 than him: Mike Trout, Darryl Strawberry and Vada Pinson, who each had five.

While still proving productive in 2010, hitting .300 for a fourth consecutive season and securing a fifth 20-20 season, Ramírez’s defense regressed to its typically poor standards and he plummeted to 2.8 rWAR, the fourth-best mark on his own team. Aggravating his elbow in a September 15 game against the Phillies sidelined him for 15 of the team’s last 17 games. 

Inarguably, the moment that defined his 2010 season came in a May 17 game against the Diamondbacks. A Tony Abreu blooper bounced off Ramírez’s foot and he nonchalantly jogged down the left field line in pursuit of it. Two runs scored in the process, calling into question the superstar's hustle. Manager Fredi Gonzalez would lift Ramírez from that game and sit him the following night. 

Posting his first truly “down” year in 2011, Ramírez hit just .243 with 10 home runs in 92 games in a season that ended prematurely when he injured his shoulder on August 2, not appearing in another game after that date. 

With the signing of a fellow shortstop José Reyes to a 6-year/$106M deal, Ramírez would see himself changing positions in 2012 for the first time in his career, moving to the hot corner, third base. Boasting an .813 OPS as late as June 9 in what looked like a potential bounce-back, Ramírez hit just .218 with a .631 OPS over his next 34 games. On July 25 that season, with the team seven games under .500, Ramírez would be traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting .271 with a .774 OPS the rest of the way, while starting a majority of games there at his more familiar shortstop.

Playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic in 2013, it was revealed that Ramírez had sustained a torn thumb ligament, requiring surgery that would keep him out until the end of April. Just three games into his return, a hamstring injury put Ramirez back on the shelf, this time costing him all of May before returning on June 4. 

When he did play in 2013, though, Ramírez was among the game’s best hitters, hitting .345 with a 1.040 OPS. His 5.2 rWAR was tied for 18th despite playing in just 86 games, and his 189 OPS+ was second only to eventual AL MVP and former Marlins teammate, Miguel Cabrera, among hitters to take at least 300 plate appearances that season. 

Ramírez initially made the most of his first taste of postseason baseball, hitting .500 with a 1.618 OPS in the 2013 NLDS before being held to a 2-for-15 line in the Dodgers' NLCS loss to the Cardinals. 

Healthier though still hampered by injury in 2014, Ramírez hit .283 with a 133 OPS+ in 128 games. Like his 2010 gaffe in the field, 2014 included another infamous defensive highlight, as his throwing error was the lone blemish in Clayton Kershaw’s 15-strikeout, no-walk, no-hitter against the Rockies on June 18 that season. 

With concerns over his still-poor glove (-8 Rfield) and durability, the Dodgers chose to let Ramirez test free agency. Going back to where it all started, the Red Sox gave Ramirez a 4-year/$88M deal and announced their intentions to have him as their everyday left fielder. That experiment went about as well as one would envision, costing the Red Sox 14 runs on defense that season. By September, the Red Sox had abandoned any further prospect of using Ramírez in the outfield again, this time announcing their plans to use him at first base come 2016. His -0.7 rWAR, .291 OBP, and 89 OPS+ would prove career worsts as the Red Sox finished last in the AL East.

2016 would be Ramírez’s final season as a productive big leaguer, as he played 140-plus games for the first time since 2012, hitting 30 home runs and driving in a career-best 111 for a Red Sox team that found their way into the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 2013. 

Though he’d hit 23 home runs in 2017, Ramírez played just 18 games in the field, starting a majority of his games as the heir to David Ortiz at the DH position. Ramírez would hit well in the playoffs, though, batting .571 in the team’s ALDS loss to the Astros. 

After hitting .254 in 44 games to begin the 2018 season, the Red Sox designated Ramírez for assignment on May 25, ultimately being released by that year’s eventual World Series victors. 

Ramírez would attempt a comeback in 2019, signing a minor league deal with the Cleveland Guardians in spring training. He hit just .184 in 16 big league games. The final chapter of his professional career came with Tigres del Licey during the 2021-22 Dominican Winter League season.

Exiting the game with a career .289/.360/.486/.847 slash line and 271 home runs, Ramírez amassed 38.0 rWAR/41.8 fWAR. By Baseball-Reference’s version of WAR, Ramírez’s 26.9 wins as a Marlin rank second in franchise history, trailing only Giancarlo Stanton (35.7). In his peak from 2006-2009, Ramírez’s 23.3 rWAR ranked fourth among all position players. The number is tied with Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau for 8th-most in a shortstop’s age-22-25 seasons. Ramírez is one of just seven shortstops in baseball history with three separate 7 oWAR seasons, with the other six being Hall of Famers and Alex Rodriguez.

Routinely regarded as one of the poorer defenders during his playing career, Ramírez’s negative-112 fielding runs are the 13th worst in MLB history while his negative-103 defensive runs saved are the 7th-worst. Even if he were a career neutral in the field, Ramírez would remain a fringe HOF case despite his 49.6 oWAR. His poor work with the leather proves his ultimate downfall.

Regardless of his shortcomings and knowing that he’ll almost certainly be a classic one-and-done on the ballot, at his best, it was hard to argue there were better than Hanley Ramírez.