BOSTON — You could liken the dance the Red Sox undertook Friday over Hanley Ramirez to the type seen when teams start throwing at each other.
Oh heavens, no, that pitch wasn’t thrown inside to intimidate a hitter. We definitely didn’t want to cause a brawl and leave a nasty bruise. We just want to win the ballgame, and you have to pitch inside.
Puritanical posturing. Age-old. All to avoid disciplinary trouble. In the case of Ramirez being designated for assignment, Dave Dombrowski appeared to be going out of his way to avoid a potential grievance filed by the Players Association.
"The vesting option had nothing to do with it," Dombrowski said Friday.
- MORE RED SOX - Dombrowski says Cora recommended the Hanley DFA move
Ultimately, for the benefit of the Red Sox, it’s better to have a president of baseball operations who plays it safe rather than cost the team millions of dollars with a loose tongue. Still, for all of Dombrowski’s experience in the game, acting isn’t exactly his strong suit. There are safe explanations, and then there are over-the-top ones.
Dombrowski walked into his press conference Friday with an apparent plan to sell the world on the narrow scope of his intentions. He opened with this nugget: “it was a baseball-related move for us.” He repeated this phrasing, as did manager Alex Cora.
Boston Red Sox
Find the latest Boston Red Sox news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
As long as “a baseball move” can be established, the precedent is on the team's side in grievances filed when a team is suspected of making a decision to avoid a potential contract option. The bar isn't incredibly high, either.
Dennis Lamp, a Red Sox pitcher from 1988-91, went 26 days in September without an appearance for the Blue Jays in 1986, as he neared a number of appearances necessary for his 1987 season to be guaranteed.
Lamp lost his case.
“They're not trying to win,” Lamp said to Jerome Holtzman in 1986. “They`re just trying to save money.”
No one doubts the Sox were thinking of Ramirez’s $22 million vesting option for 2019 when he was designated for assignment. But there are baseball reasons Dombrowski pointed to: Ramirez’s numbers, a roster crunch with Dustin Pedroia returning, Mitch Moreland’s success. Plus, unlike the Blue Jays and Lamp, the Red Sox chose to move on from Ramirez early in the year.
With those points in mind, Dombrowski didn’t need to push this hard-to-believe narrative about Cora driving the decision. He didn’t need to make people even ponder the state of Cora and Ramirez’s relationship, which is known to be strong.
- MORE SOX - Pedroia returns, Swihart gets rare start
"He called me, I remember it was about 11:30 in the morning," Dombrowski said of Cora. "I was getting ready to go for a run. Alex says, ‘I’ve got a thought for you about what we’re doing.’ He said, ‘This is a move that I would like to make, that I recommend making.'"
Maybe that's a technically accurate retelling. But given the setting, it sounded like Dombrowski wanted to find a convenient buffer between the Red Sox and a grievance — one that there are no present plans to file and one the Sox would likely win if it were to be filed.