UPDATE: Hanley Ramirez’s agent tells Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that his client posted the photo on Instagram as a joke and was actually flying to the Dominican Republic. In other words, a contract extension is not imminent. Hey, at least we know that Ramirez has an interesting sense of humor.
11:01 a.m. ET: Hanley Ramirez told Dionisio Soldevila of ESPN Deportes last Friday that he was working on a contract extension with the Dodgers. And if this post to Ramirez’s Instagram account from last night is any indication, it could be a done deal in the very near future:
Ramirez, who turns 30 later this month, has one year and $16 million remaining on the six-year, $70 million extension he signed with the Marlins back in May 2008. While injuries limited him to 86 games this past season, he was a monster when healthy, batting .345/.402/.638 with 20 home runs and 57 RBI. That was good enough for him to finish eighth in the National League MVP balloting. Ramirez has made it clear that he wants to stay with the Dodgers, but it’s going to cost them big-time.
Thanks to Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness for the heads-up on the Instagram post. For what it’s worth, he’s thinking that an extension for Ramirez could be in the six-year, $100-120 million range.