By Jonathan Lee
July 25, 2012

Marlins continue firesale, send Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate to L.A.

The Dodgers have reportedly been active on the trade market trying to add both offense and defense. Wednesday brought news that they had acquired a big-time hitter to help boost the anemic lineup: former All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

This trade is a big boon for Los Angeles as it fills one of the two major holes on the left side of the infield. Ramirez’s presence in the lineup provides another power source other than Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, and boosts the Dodgers by 1.2 wins over the rest of the season. The team is still significantly behind the Giants in the race for the NL West title, but it is now 7.1 percent more likely to snag a playoff spot. The Dodgers did send away Nathan Eovaldi in the deal meaning the rotation is further weakened until either another trade is completed and/or Ted Lilly returns from the disabled list.

Ramirez has played mostly third base this season. For now he will fill in at shortstop until Dee Gordon returns from injury displacing Luis Cruz. He would then move over to third when Gordon returns sometime in August sending the pairing of Jerry Hairston Jr. and Juan Uribe to full-time bench roles. There is little risk in this move for the Dodgers even if Ramirez is no longer one of the best young players in the game. Even at his current level of production, he represents a major upgrade at either third or short and they acquired him by giving up a back-end starter and agreeing to pay the approximately $40 million left on his contract.