These teams might want to get on the phone about Hanley Ramirez

The Boston Red Sox have evidently decided they don’t need Hanley Ramirez any longer. These five teams should move quickly to add him to their lineup.

Hanley Ramirez isn’t the offensive star he used to be, but it’s still a massive surprise that the Boston Red Sox elected to designate him for assignment. Now that Boston is ready to let him go, expect quite a few teams to jump into the mix for the former All-Star.

In fairness, Ramirez isn’t nearly the athlete he used to be. Part of the reason Boston is willing to part ways with him is that he’s only equipped to play first base and designated hitter at this point in his career. If teams have visions of him playing anywhere else, they will end up sorely disappointed. His days of playing quality shortstop for the Marlins are a distant memory.

He also isn’t a great hitter anymore. Teams looking to acquire him can hope for some bounce back, but he doesn’t profile as a middle of the order hitter anymore. There still should be a home for him in someone’s starting lineup.

After all, Ramirez has still been a positive contributor for Boston on the season. His WAR is only .1, but there are plenty of teams starting negative entities at first base right now. For the sake of comparison, Ramirez has given the Red Sox just as much statistical production as Albert Pujols as given the Angels at the plate this season.

Whoever ends up with Ramirez will likely have to assume his big contract, but that’s really the only downside to acquiring him. Boston certainly won’t ask for anything significant in a trade. They will be more than happy to offload him to a team willing to free them from their salary commitments. There’s even a slight chance he’ll become a free agent. Ramirez is a no-brainer for most teams at that price.

Without delay, let’s took at the five MLB teams who really should be looking to rescue Hanley Ramirez from his Red Sox nightmare.