Hanley Ramirez in need of bounceback year after a tough 2010 season

After establishing himself as one of the best players in the majors, Hanley Ramirez had a bit of a down year in 2010

The Florida Marlins traded away Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell in 2005, two guys who were two of the heroes of the 2003 Marlins team that won the World Series.  Following the trade, the two would go on to once again be the heroes of a World Series Champion, this being the 2007 Boston Red Sox, with Lowell win the World Series MVP and Beckett finishing 2nd in the AL Cy Young Voting.  After reading about that, you would think this was a disaster of a trade.  But this actually was not the case at all.

In the 2005 Thanksgiving deal, the Marlins acquired a young prospect named Hanley Ramirez, who had been an up and coming shortstop in the Sox system for a couple seasons leading up to the trade.  After taking his talents to South Beach, it did not take too long for the label "prospect" to be taken off Hanley's name.  Ramirez came up and made an immediate impact with the Marlins in 2006, earning the NL Rookie of the Year award following a season in which he collected 185 hits and 119 runs, while hitting .292.  But Ramirez would not stop there.

From 2007-2009, Ramirez established himself as a star in the major leagues, hitting .325/.398/.947 while averaging 195 hits, 117 runs, 41 2B, 29 HR, and 85 RBI.  In 2008, Ramirez led the league in runs scored, and joined Cleveland's Grady Sizemore as the only players to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases, and in 2009 finished 2nd in the MVP voting while winning the NL Batting Crown.  Going into 2010, Ramirez was not only thought as the best shortstop in the majors, but one of the best players as well.

In 2010, Ramirez had what was somewhat of a down year, at least for his standards.  He still put up respectable numbers, hitting .300/.378/.853, with 21 HR, 76 RBI, and 92 RS.  He put up career-low numbers in several categories, including hits, runs, doubles, and slugging percentage, and had his lowest totals in homers, RBI, Batting Average, OBP, and OPS since his rookie year in 2006.  He was even benched at one point by then-manager Fredi Gonzalez after a perceived lack of effort in a game against Arizona.  To add to all that, the emergence of Colorado SS Troy Tulowitzki late in the season made people think of Tulow as the best shortstop in the game, forcing Ramirez to take a back seat.

In 2011, that could all change.  Being just 27 years old, there is no doubt that Ramirez still has many good years ahead of him and should be entering his prime.  Everybody knows how good he is and how good he has been, it is just a matter of getting back on track, and putting up the numbers he did from 2007-2009.