Red Sox agree to deal with Hanley Ramirez

(October 6, 2014 - Source: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America)

Hanley Ramirez is coming home.

Per Ken Rosenthal, the Boston Red Sox have agreed in principle to a four-year, approximately $90 million contract with one of their former top prospects, Hanley Ramirez.

The signing is the first major acquisition of the off season for the Red Sox, who are also rumored to have heavy interest in third baseman Pablo Sandoval and starting pitcher Jon Lester.

The 30-year old Dominican native turned down the $15.3 million qualifying offer he received from the Dodgers earlier in the month, which will force Boston to surrender it's second round pick to Los Angeles. Because the Red Sox finished with a record in the bottom 10 teams last season, their first round pick (7th overall) will be protected.

Many are speculating that the Red Sox are looking to move Ramirez to left field, which would almost certainly spell the end of Yoenis Cespedes’ time in Boston.

Back in late-October rumors began to spread that Cespedes is not well liked by Boston's coaching staff, and he has shown a willingness to test the free agent market after next season instead of negotiating a new contract. Boston acquired Cespedes at the trade deadline in exchange for Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes.

With the Boston rumored to be the front runners in the Sandoval sweepstakes, and also in desperate need of starting pitching, another option might be to keep Ramirez in the infield and look to deal young shortstop, Xander Bogaerts,to help bolster their rotation.

Hanley spent the 2014 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he hit .283/.369/.448. However, Ramirez was limited to only 128 games last year which was evident by his 13 home runs and 71 RBIs.

Ramirez's health issues in recent years have been no secret, but when healthy he owns a very respectable career line of .300/.373/.500.

Those numbers mesh much better with a Boston lineup built around getting on base over Cespedes' lackluster career line of .263/.316/.464.

 The only issue might be keeping Ramirez on the field, but with a surplus of outfielders the Red Sox could be in a great position to afford regular rest to some of their starters.

After beginning his career in the Boston organization, Ramirez was traded alongside Anibal Sanchez to the then Florida Marlins in exchange for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell, who would be instrumental in bringing home a World Series title for the Red Sox in 2007.

After six and a half seasons with the Marlins, Ramirez was again traded in 2012 to the Los Angeles Dodgers with Randy Choate for Nathan Eovaldi and a minor league pitching prospect.