The Red Sox have seen the light on moving Hanley Ramirez to first base. Or better put, Dave Dombrowski has, shall we say, strongly encouraged them to see the light.
Now comes the hard part: getting Hanley himself to see it, too.
Only a few weeks ago, in announcing the Mike Napoli trade to the Texas Rangers, former general manager Ben Cherington was asked about the possibility of Ramirez getting some playing time at first base.
"Unlikely'' was Cherington's response.
But with Cherington effectively gone and Dombrowski now in charge of the club's Baseball Operations department, the thinking has changed.
Ramirez took some groundballs at first base Tuesday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, where the Red Sox were preparing for the middle game of their three-game series with the White Sox.
It's hard to come away from that thinking it wasn't ordered from on high. It's highly unlikely that such a radical shift in thinking came from Torey Lovullo, who is, after all, the interim manager.
Boston Red Sox
The move makes perfect sense, too. Ramirez has been a complete train wreck in left field, ranking, quite literally, as the worst defender at any position in all of the big leagues.
With Ramirez, no fly ball is routine, no out guaranteed. He has shown neither the proper aptitude nor attitude for the position.
Moreover, the Red Sox currently have three outfielders on their 25-man roster who aren't just better than Ramirez -- who isn't? -- but better than most major league outfielders.
Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo are athletic and capable of giving the Red Sox the best defensive outfield in baseball.
Bradley is arguably the best outfield defender in the game. Castillo is above average, and while Betts has some learning still to do -- as befits someone who had never played the outfield at any level until 15 months ago -- he has a high ceiling.
Fine.
But putting aside questions about whether Ramirez can make the transition, there's the matter of does he want to make the transition?
On Tuesday, Ramirez said all the right things to reporters in Chicago.
"I think, with me at first, we're going to have a better team on the field, competing every day,'' said Ramirez. "I was thinking, 'Yeah, we're a way better team with me at first and Jackie and Mookie and Casty (in the outfield).' Hopefully we can do it and they can keep doing what they're doing - playing great outfield and keep hitting, because we're going to need that.''
Some scouts believe that Ramirez could handle first better than left. Obviously, there's far less ground to cover. And Ramirez was athletic enough to play shortstop -- if not particularly well -- for a number of years in the big leagues.
If he could field ground balls at short, he should be able to do the same at first, along with scooping throws in the dirt.
But quite apart from ability is the question of will.
Remember, Ramirez said all the right things about playing the outfield, too. He told Cherington and the Red Sox that he'd be willing to undertake the position for the chance to sign in Boston.
He even reported weeks early to spring training to work with coach Arnie Beyeler at JetBlue Park, with its replica of Fenway's famed Green Monster.
Then the regular season came and the work stopped. Ramirez didn't have the time or interest to continue working to improve in the outfield and the predictable results followed.
So pardon my cynicism. Ramirez said all the right things before and didn't back up his talk.
The Red Sox see the value in such a move? Great.
Ramirez does, too? OK.
But we've heard that all before. The proof will be in Ramirez's willingness to put in the time to learn the position.