What It Means:

This is contradictory to what Ramirez said, as he told Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes that he was planning to play for the Licey Tigers in the Dominican Winter League. However, Dombrowski said "presently this is only a rumor." It's unknown whether the plans have been canceled completely, but regardless there has been a miscommunication between Ramirez and the front office. It was speculated that Ramirez would use winter ball to get in some time playing first base, as he is expected to start the season there in 2016 for the BoSox.

Ramirez's first season in Boston did not go as planned, as he had arguably the worst season of his career. He hit just .249/.291/.426 with a .308 wOBA. Just about the only bright spot was that he hit 19 home runs. His transition to the outfield was a disaster. Ramirez posted the worst UZR/150 of any position player with at least 700 innings at -31.9. It's a small sample size, but the results were bad enough for the Red Sox to move Ramirez back to the infield for 2016.