Hanley excited to help Red Sox build on 2016

Hanley Ramirez’s enthusiasm for all things baseball has been infectious for the past several months, making it hard to fathom he was at a crossroads just a year ago.

After Ramirez turned in a subpar (.717 OPS) and injury-plagued (105 games) 2015 season, Red Sox Nation all but begged president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to trade the veteran run producer.

But the Red Sox exercised patience and were rewarded with Ramirez’s prolific 2016 season, and they now look forward to having him under contract for two more years.

At David Ortiz’s Celebrity Golf Classic earlier this month in the Dominican Republic, attendees had the chance to bid on a day of golf with several stars from around the game, as well as entertainers and prominent athletes from other sports.

Ramirez drew the top bid from a foursome that donated $21,000 to Ortiz’s charity for the honor of golfing with the Red Sox’s new designated hitter.

Yes, Ramirez is taking over for his close friend and mentor Ortiz at DH, and he’s doing so in a team-first way.

“I just want to play and have my four at-bats, maybe five. It doesn’t matter,” Ramirez said recently. “Just go out there and kick some butt. It doesn’t matter where I’m going to be playing. I’m not a person who says I want to do this or want to do that. I’m just going to go into Spring Training and do whatever they ask me.”

Though Ramirez played a solid first base in 2016 — his first year at the position — he expressed no apprehension when the Red Sox signed free agent Mitch Moreland to …

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