So let me get this straight. Either Hanley Ramirez is dealing crack, or he’s not. Did I get that right?
Seems like a pretty vague assessment of the guy’s current status. But that’s the result of the questionable evidence in front of us. Either he’s involved in something shady, or he’s not.
Whatever it is, one thing we know for sure is that Ramirez is no longer the Boston Red Sox’ problem.
According to the latest report from The Boston Globe, Massachusetts State Police pulled over and later arrested a man who was in possession of two kilograms of fentanyl. The original report from Michele McPhee claimed that the man was in possession of 435 grams of both fentanyl and crack cocaine.
When the police pulled him over in April, the man said the box that contained the drugs belonged to Ramirez, and initially refused to let them open it. After then Facetiming with Ramirez, the police were given the OK to see what was inside. That’s when they discovered the drugs.
Ramirez denied knowing about the box, but clearly was a friend of the man who was in possession of it. And the friend’s attorney later claimed that he only dropped Ramirez’ name in order to avoid punishment.
The man has since pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with possession with intent to distribute 400 or more grams of fentanyl.
Ramirez has since been released by the Red Sox, for what the team continues to call “baseball reasons.”
Let’s break it down this way. Ramirez’ friend was clearly intending to sell these drugs. Was he intending to sell them to Ramirez? Was Ramirez helping him sell them? Did Ramirez have absolutely nothing to do with it?
I don’t think anybody knows the answers to those questions. So we have to go with what we do know. And what we know is that Ramirez was released after hitting .163 in the month of May. We know that Ramirez has still not signed with another team. We know that he claimed on twitter this week that it’s been his choice not to play and instead he wanted to go home and be with his family.
And like I already said, we know that he is no longer the Red Sox’ problem.
So as you try to come up with the answers as to what is actually going on with Ramirez, off the field, just know that the Red Sox don’t owe you anything, when it comes to an “explanation” as to why they actually released Ramirez.
Let’s just say they knew about Ramirez’ friendship with a guy who was carrying around multiple kilos of fentanyl, with the obvious purpose of distribution. Let’s say that knowledge made it much easier to cut ties with a guy who was hitting .163 in May and who was on pace to make enough plate appearances to have his 2019 $22 million vesting option picked up. Let’s say the Red Sox released Ramirez for more than just baseball reasons.
Why do they have to tell you? Because now the news is that Ramirez is not under any type of investigation. So had the Red Sox come out and publicly admitted knowledge of a story linking Ramirez to a potential drug dealer, then that would be looked at as an accusation, and a pretty strong accusation to say the least.
So instead of being stupid, the Red Sox keep citing “baseball reasons” as the reason they sent him packing.
True or not, they don’t owe us any more than that.
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