MLB Free Agents: Aramis Ramirez Signing Is Bad Move for Desperate Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers have had an eventful 48 hours, with the whole Ryan Braun situation taking on a life of its own, but the team has tried to circumvent that by signing Aramis Ramirez to a three-year contract, according to Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago.

It's easy to see why the Brewers made the move, even if Braun weren't facing a 50-game suspension. Prince Fielder is gone and they need someone to make up for the offense that he gave them, but I don't trust Ramirez on a three-year contract as he enters his decline phase. 

Ramirez is 33 years old right now, has missed at least 30 games in three of the last five seasons and won't have the benefit of playing in Wrigley Field to help him hit home runs at the same pace he did with the Cubs. 

In addition to his body showing signs of slowly breaking down, he is a terrible defensive third baseman. He can't move and has no range, so unless the Brewers are going to move him to first base, the defense actually takes a step backward, which is hard to do considering the team they ran out there last year. 

ESPN analyst Keith Law wrote in his free agent write up that Ramirez can be a "productive second-tier power hitter as a first baseman," but he is "also one of the most likely players in this market to go all Adam Dunn on his new employers."

Obviously, I fall into the latter category because I don't trust his body and I think that his decline is going to hit him like a ton of bricks. He is a dead pull hitter who has never tried to make an adjustment to drive the ball to the opposite field. 

The Brewers were forced into making this deal for three years because of all the unrest surrounding Braun right now, but usually when teams make a deal based on factors other than baseball they rarely turn out well. 

The National League Central is weak enough that the Brewers will still compete in 2012 and they are probably the favorites on paper right now, but they did not improve much by signing Ramirez. 

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