Hanley DFA'd (5/25 Update)

brandonchristensen

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Elicited a genuine "Holy shit" when I read it.

He was one of the lovable Sox, but his contract situation was so complicated and with the option likely to vest with his playing time, this is the only real solution.

In April when he was mashing because he was "healthy", no one cared about the money. But since then, he's been a black hole as Mookie is shattering expectations, and 10D is getting hot. You can't have that...

I'll miss him, he was a ton of fun to watch. Pure charisma and that same lovable 'goofball' antics that Manny sometimes displayed. And I'll miss his no-doubters.

But this is the right move and helps the franchise going forward.
 

LoweTek

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I’m betting Pedroia sees a lot of DH time to keep him out of the field diving around on a newly repaired knee.
I'm going cast some doubt on this. Nunez has been atrocious over there, unable to field most anything not hit directly at him and he has noticably poor fundamentals around the bag. He has cost the team runs and rallys multiple times.

His hitting might be the only thing keeping us from talking about Nunez in the DFA thread instead of Hanley.

Maybe it's because I'm spoiled watching Pedroia all the time but an injured Pedroia never diving has better range than if you put two Nunez's over there.

Holt is a better option if Pedroia needs a day off.
 

29Plantier

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It was time to make the move, but I'll miss him. Seemed to settle nicely into the elder statesman role on the club, and appeared to be good at keeping the clubhouse loose. But there was no reason to think he's be more than an average contributor on the field this year, and vesting him would have been lunacy.
 

TheoShmeo

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Because it’s easier to find and jell an alternative now.
I also think they would risk some very adverse player reaction if they DFA'd Hanley when he got to At Bat 496. Or even something less extreme but still very close to the number.
 

drbretto

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If this move was financially motivated, why not just DFA him in September before 497 PA and get a full season of production?
Because Hanley is a human being. I know it's easy to see how much money these people are making and assume they're so rich they shouldn't mind, but if he was able to stay on the team long enough to amass 496 plate appearances, it would be pretty messed up to say thanks by yanking away $22 million. I think the union would probably call bullshit, too.

I'm going to miss Hanley. I loved this attitude and he just seemed like a great guy. But, as others have stated here, he was given ample chance to earn it and he didn't. He just doesn't make the cut. Cutting him now is fair for everyone.
 

Pandemonium67

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I have an irrational like for Hanley -- those moonshots were beautiful -- but have to think this is the right move. I like that DD has the guts to pull the trigger like that, and I think the team is better for it.

Now my attention turns to Pedey. I am not optimistic about the prospects for his success, now that he's older and coming back from surgery, but I'm open to him proving me wrong.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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If this move was financially motivated, why not just DFA him in September before 497 PA and get a full season of production?
Perhaps they were worried about the negative publicity and potential repercussions of doing it when he was 25 PAs away or something. They pounced when his play was really bad.

Also, maybe they were in contact with his people. I'm sure that Hanley and his agent have been aware that the $22 million was a potential albatross and Hanley knew the writing was on the wall and wanted to be cut at a time when he has a chance of getting picked up and playing under a new contract.

Edit: And for all we know there may have been discussions to try to to ameliorate the harsh yes or no on the option and to get him to take some kind of restructure. I don't know if that would have been possible. But maybe this was a negotiated thing.

Edit 2: Even more speculation. What if this has been something that's been on the table for a while and has been causing distraction and decline in his play? I thought Hanley looked really good at the plate early this year. Not just the results but also the approach. He's been out of sorts for a month. Again, this is crazy speculation but as the stories come out I wouldn't be surprised if we learn that there have been discussions for a while and that this isn't something that just happened this morning.
 
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steveluck7

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If this move was financially motivated, why not just DFA him in September before 497 PA and get a full season of production?
Lots of possibilities have already been covered but doing it this early might be beneficial to him as there might be more suitors for him. Maybe he'll get a little bit more than the minimum or get to choose the best landing spot?
 

chawson

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Lots of possibilities have already been covered but doing it this early might be beneficial to him as there might be more suitors for him. Maybe he'll get a little bit more than the minimum or get to choose the best landing spot?
Also this. The first-order reason is that DFAing him at 475 PAs is shitty. But DFAing him now means there’s a nonzero chance they work out a trade, which gives DD a bit of control where he goes. I don’t think it’s a great outcome to be paying Hanley to play for one of our playoff opponents in four months.

Again, can’t think of anyone but the Rockies here, but I don’t see a reason why they wouldn’t trade off their equitable salary fat for 300 “free” PAs from Hanley. They’re in first place in a surprisingly vulnerable NL West and rolling with negative two wins at first base.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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This is more a post about Remy than Hanley, but I'm actually really interested to hear Jerry's take tonight.

He's sort of become the definitive voice for the Red Sox. He has to worry a bit about his NESN supervisors, but I think we'll get the straight scoop from him tonight about what he thinks it means for the clubhouse, etc.

Eck is fun and welcome from time to time. But Jerry really has become the go to guy for these moments. I care more what he will have to say than any writers.
 

NJ_Sox_Fan

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I hate this, but then again, I hated when they traded away Nomar for two nobodies, so what the hell do I know?

I do think they need another bat, or someone else to step up though. Yeah, Hanley has sucked of late, but he was scorching in April, and one of the few power bats in the lineup.
 

InsideTheParker

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Who gets to pen the ol' kick'em on the way out of town article?

Unfortunate end to tenure that I believe was quietly marred by early season injuries for the past three seasons. It's easy to forget that he looked really locked in at the plate to start the year and then got absolutely smoked in the wrist, which in real time looked very serious. For whatever reason healing up on the DL wasn't an option and gritting through the injuries seemed to cost him production.
I have been trying to remember whether it was in an at-bat or somehow at first. Can you help me with my fuzzy memory?
 

jetBlue Balls

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Memmmmmmries....like the corners of my mind. Misty water-colored, memmmmmmmmries, of the way we werrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre




Btw, to the guy that said Hanley is lazy and didn't work hard enough...

...please poast pix of your physique or STFU.
 
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catomatic

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I have been trying to remember whether it was in an at-bat or somehow at first. Can you help me with my fuzzy memory?
At-Bat. We all feared he was lost for weeks but returned a day or so later and seemed fine. I think he even homered right away.

Edit: Injury 4/12, Reassuring 2-Run Monster Job 4/14. Quieter thereafter.... To the tune of 3 HR in last 30 games. Unfortunately, the decline in production kinda lines up with Sonny Gray HBP.
 
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Rasputin

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Alex Speier‏ @alexspeier 5m5 minutes ago
Dombrowski: ‘we were prepared to go in a different direction with our move.’ Said Cora called him yesterday at 11:30 to suggest this. Wanted Moreland to play more, didn’t see Hanley as a great bench fit, allowed Sox to keep Swihart.
That rather strongly suggested the "different direction" was a dfa or useless trade off Swihart.

I just hope they give him some halfways decent playing time. It's a bit over two months to the trade deadline and I'd like to know if Swihart can platoon with Moreland by then.
 

TFisNEXT

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Sounds like the theory that Alex Cora and DD were on the same page and Cora was batting him #3 to give him a chance is the correct one based on the press conference dialogue. This shines positive light on Cora too...he gave the guy a real chance to succeed in the middle of the top half of the order which has generally been mashing all year around him. But when it started to become obvious that Hanley was cooked, he wasn't afraid to cut bait.
 

ledsox

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Those pics made me a little sad. Fun guy. Loved being a Sox, I'm sure. Certainly had his moments, but this is totally understandable.
 

bankshot1

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I don't quite buy that this came from Cora.

I think it more likely DD told Cora to bounce the idea of more bench time to Hanley, and Hanley wasn't happy about it.

So

it solves the option issue and buys some more time to figure out Swihart

God speed Hanley

you brought us Josh who brought us '07

and chicken and beer
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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It's not a jump. It's not even a particularly large step.
I mean, it kind of is.

Someone's past actions form future opinions. Dude was benched indefinitely for being lazy in Miami.

“Hanley left the game because we felt – he got smoked in the ankle – but we felt whether he was hurt or not hurt or whatever it was, we felt that the effort wasn’t there that we wanted,” Gonzalez said. “There’s 24 guys out there that are busting their butts. Cody Ross got hit with a ball 95 mph and it wasn’t hit or thrown any slower and he stayed in the game making diving plays and battling, got two hits and an RBI.

“There are some injuries there, but we expect an effort from 25 guys on this team and when that doesn’t happen, we have got to do something,” he added.

“You guys call him a marquee guy,” Gonzalez said. “I got 25 guys all wearing the same uniform with all of the same Marlins insignia on the front and I think it’s disappointing if anybody did it, not just one guy.”
As for JD Drew, his own manager (LaRussa, yuck) openly questioned his interest in the game and said he was content "to settle for 75% of his talent". So, yes, Drew was attacked for being lazy.

Whether any professional athlete is lazy? I have no fucking idea. And can lazy be construed as racist? Obviously. But it's not like Ramirez has zero history with laziness. He got benched for dogging it - kicking a ball into the outfield and jogging to retrieve it while 2 men scored, not running out ground balls, not hustling to run out double plays - was national news. Not sure if the original poster was even aware of any of this shit, but the history is there.
 

DJnVa

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Alex Speier‏ @alexspeier 5m5 minutes ago
Dombrowski: ‘we were prepared to go in a different direction with our move.’ Said Cora called him yesterday at 11:30 to suggest this. Wanted Moreland to play more, didn’t see Hanley as a great bench fit, allowed Sox to keep Swihart.

Throwback to earlier in this thread were it was thought that DD was doing this and Cora wouldn't approve.
 

Reverend

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I bumped the Cora thread to discuss what this means for the clubhouse for those interested in such things.

After last year, that's probably... some of y'all. But I think dropping Hanley is a huge shift.
 

The Red Industry

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Was it a dogwhistle when Pablo was accused of being lazy or was it honest criticism? I loved Manly as much as the next guy and a dude who is cut like that is not lazy, but at the same time the instant accusations of racism around here are pretty crazy.
 

chawson

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I mean, it kind of is.

Someone's past actions form future opinions. Dude was benched indefinitely for being lazy in Miami.



As for JD Drew, his own manager (LaRussa, yuck) openly questioned his interest in the game and said he was content "to settle for 75% of his talent". So, yes, Drew was attacked for being lazy.

Whether any professional athlete is lazy? I have no fucking idea. And can lazy be construed as racist? Obviously. But it's not like Ramirez has zero history with laziness. He got benched for dogging it - kicking a ball into the outfield and jogging to retrieve it while 2 men scored, not running out ground balls, not hustling to run out double plays - was national news. Not sure if the original poster was even aware of any of this shit, but the history is there.
Bryce Harper was benched for failing to run out a ground ball in 2014. How many casual fans you think would call him lazy today?
 

The Red Industry

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Except there's a mound of evidence that Pablo was lazy.
(A mound around his midsection, anyway.)

Not so with Hanley.
Agreed, like I said, I would never accuseHanley of being lazy. But at the same time when someone else calls a player lazy the first thing in my mind isn't that they are racist, maybe just stupid.
 

AB in DC

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Agreed, like I said, I would never accuseHanley of being lazy. But at the same time when someone else calls a player lazy the first thing in my mind isn't that they are racist, maybe just stupid.
Nothing wrong with that, but nothing wrong with coming to the opposite conclusion either. Or not coming to any conclusion.

Anyhow, we've probably beaten this horse to death, so I'll shut up now.
 

Rovin Romine

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Was it a dogwhistle when Pablo was accused of being lazy or was it honest criticism? I loved Manly as much as the next guy and a dude who is cut like that is not lazy, but at the same time the instant accusations of racism around here are pretty crazy.
Here's the thing, when someone makes a groundless statement that is also a negative racial stereotype, they should be prepared to be called out on it. And you know what that is, first blush? That's racism, my friend.
 

ehaz

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I would have rather DFA'd Johnson and kept Hanley at least until the end of June/July to see if he rebounded.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Got the strong impression watching the press conference that Swihart was not being DFA today. Would have been Holt to AAA.
Or Nunez to the DL. Or Brian Johnson DFA to leave a short bullpen. Does it really matter at this point what the alternative plan was? Cora suggested Hanley goes and that's the way Dombrowski went. Clearly he wasn't 100% sold on whatever his other plan was.
 

Byrdbrain

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I would have rather DFA'd Johnson and kept Hanley at least until the end of June/July to see if he rebounded.
That was more or less my opinion as well but I understand the move.
No matter how well he hit this year he isn't worth what the option was going to pay him and this puts the payroll in much better shape for next year.
It's a gutsy move for sure.
 

ehaz

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Then your team would be losing two players off of the roster instead of just one.
Meh. BJ is almost 28 and hasn't shown much. He's so replaceable with Velazquez and Wright coming back and Jalen Beeks pitching like Lefty Grove in AAA.