Red Sox deals have the scent of a lunge for ticket sales and TV ratings

Hanley Ramirez

Newly aquired Red Sox star Hanley Ramirez is happy now, but he comes with a reputation as a high-maintenance player.

(Stephan Savoia/AP)

The better column would be to praise the transactions that brought Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez to Boston.

That is what Red Sox fans want to hear. The enthusiasm for these high-profile free-agent deals has competed with questions and skepticism about whether the reward will outweigh the risk, but the optimists probably stand in the majority.

So, for the past couple of days, I have tried to come around to applauding multi-year deals for a shortstop who will play the outfield, and a third baseman who promises to work with weight coaches so that he doesn't balloon into a designated hitter.

These still come off as deals that were made with an eye on bolstering the TV ratings that fell with the team's collapse last year, and firing up a ticket base that must overcome the second Red Sox last-place finish in three years - as many as they had absorbed in the previous 80 seasons.

It could all be part of a larger master plan. Acquiring offense allows the Red Sox to trade Yoenis Cespedes for pitching, which would address their biggest need.

It would also remove a hitter more feared than either Ramirez or Sandoval. If the Red Sox intend to contend in 2015, as these move indicate, that's taking a step back in order to take a step forward.

That is, unless Cespedes really is the internal problem that made him the subject of such rumors last month. The Red Sox categorically denied the rumors, saying in fact they love the guy, which does not mean he will be on the team in April.

My problem is not with which players might be leaving, but which are coming, Sandoval, I like - for all his girth, he plays third base with agility and he has that intangible quality of being a winner.

He hit .199 from the right side last year. Those are Will Middlebrooks numbers.

Of Big Panda' 16 home runs, 11 came left-handed. Since 2012, Sandoval has eight home runs in 466 right-handed at-bats, a statistic that does not imply automatic success at Fenway Park.

It is Ramirez, though, who is the more confounding acquisition. He calls himself a changed man - changed, presumably, from the high-maintenance prospect the Red Sox traded in 2005, and the malcontent who undermined manager Fredi Gonzalez in Miami in 2010.

People do change. Not all people who say they change actually do.

Ramirez says he matured in the atmosphere of Dodger Stadium. But the baseball climate in Boston is far different than in Los Angeles - and while Ramirez claims it was all about being surrounded by true pros and winning in LA, what he and many others are ignoring is that in joining the Red Sox, he is joining a last-place team.

If the A.J. Pierzynski experience taught us anything, it's that chemistry cannot be entirely discounted. It's still not clear who the Red Sox were bidding against for Ramirez, except themselves, but I guess he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

On a purely baseball-only level, the arrivals of these two stars leave no spot in the lineup for Mookie Betts unless some one (Cespedes?) is traded.

Betts was the brightest of the rookies last year. I would not hand him a starting job, but he has earned a reasonable opportunity.

Teams that that have won the World Series lately have not done it by spending alone. That means the 2013 Red Sox but mostly the Giants, who have won three times in five years.

They did it with Sandoval's help, but also by uncovering key, cost-effective parts such as Cody Ross and Joe Panik.

Sandoval was less than a month removed from catching the foul pop that made him a World Series champion again. As such, he was hot property. The Red Sox jumped at the chance.

The Sox get offended at suggestions that moves are made to make them a better product on NESN or rev up the fans. They say it's all about building a better baseball team, one that can win and compete for playoff glory, and the rest will take care of itself.

So let's hope that was the thinking behind these expensive multi-year deals. Let's hope the Red Sox are unlike the Angels, Marlins, Blue Jays, Dodgers and Yankees of recent years.

Those were teams that tried and failed to buy championships. It's far too early to render a verdict, but not too early to ask if these moves were designed with the marketable product and not just the baseball team in mind.

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