Players know all to well that when they arrive in Chooville, they should rent month-to-month and live out of a suitcase.
But for Hanley Ramirez, that was not the case. He was fortunate to have a longer-than-usual stay with the Big League Choorganization.
During his more than two-year stint with the team, he watched a lot of Choomads come and go, some barely staying long enough for him to remember their names, but the fact remained, Ramirez was safe and sound in the infield.The only other member of the team who could feel just as safe was, of course, Shin-Soo Choo, who obviously can't leave until the team changes its name.
But that makes you look back at the 2011 roster and wonder why did he choose Choo to be the team's franchise player, literally.
Why didn't he go with "High-Speed Wireless Trouter?" Or "Sexy and I Cano It." Those two players may have been a better long-term investment for the franchise.
But he went with Choo. Not a bad player, of course, just funny to see more desirable players come and go over the years, while Shin-Soo chooses to stay behind.
That was again the case Saturday when the Philly Cheesesteaks officially acquired Ramirez for Norichika Aoki and Brian McCann.
Why did Choo do this? Maybe for a possible name change?
"McCann Touch This."
"Annie Are You Aoki."
I like the latter. (And yes, I just though of those myself. I'm sure someone has them already on a website, but I didn't go searching for them.)
(... OK, I was curious, so now I Google searched them. "McCann Touch This" is Slammer original. "Annie Are You Aoki" has been taken, but still, it's funny. ... Back to baseball talk now.)
For the Cheesesteaks, this deal is pretty damn sweet. He picks up a potential MVP for a catcher who I think is going to have a huge year and an outfielder that I wouldn't draft in the first seven rounds of the draft. Partially because my lineup has four Royals in it already, and the other part is not caring about a corner outfielder who drove in 37 runs last year.
In essence, this deal is McCann for Ramirez, because Aoki wasn't a keeper to begin with.
Which means, this offseason, the Cheesesteaks have come in here, traded the No. 1 pick, a.k.a. Masahiro Tanaka, for: Jose Bautista, Hanley Ramirez and three top-level prospects.
With a strong pitching staff in tact at the start of spring training, the Cheesesteaks knew the lineup had to be addressed, and it's now taking shape.
C: A.J. Pierzynski; 1B: Prince Fielder; 2B: Aaron Hill; 3B: Chase Headley; SS: Hanley Ramirez; LF: Domonic Brown; CF: Dexter Fowler and/or Brett Gardner; RF: Jose Bautista. He also had Jean Segura to throw into the mix there.
Hill, Ramirez, Brown and Bautista are all trade acquisitions, and he's only had to move a few picks to do it. That's not bad, especially considering the fact that he still has a first round pick at No. 7 and an early second round pick.
He is on the fast track for executive of the year in the JLB.
And who knows if he is finished. He could still stop over in Chooville and see who else is ready to board the train to land of the Steak Sandwiches.
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