The Oakland Athletics are in the heart of the playoff hunt, but are they legitimate contenders?

That question’s answer would easily be yes if they could work out a trade for Hanley Ramirez.

Just yesterday, I explained why Oakland shouldn’t trade for Chase Headley, but acquiring Ramirez would be a completely different story.

The A’s lack production from both positions on the left side of the field. They rank last in the AL in terms of WAR from shortstop, according to FanGraphs. They are fourth-worst from third base. Luckily for the A’s, Hanley can play either position.

Ramirez had been the starting shortstop for the Marlins since coming up in 2006. Only until this season when they signed Jose Reyes did Hanley start playing third base on a regular basis. He’s having an off-year, but would still be a major upgrade over Cliff Pennington or Brandon Inge.

Pennington is hitting .197/.259/.282 with 17 extra-base hits in 82 games and Inge is hitting .210/.272/.386 with nine home runs in 56 games with Oakland this season. On the other hand, Hanley is hitting .246/.322/.430 with 14 home runs, 47 RBI and 49 runs this year—a pretty big upgrade.

The A’s would be a great fit for Ramirez, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. Going off of that, Oakland has shown interest in Hanley, but their level of interest is still to be determined and nothing is close to happening yet, tweeted FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the A’s could even be the favorites.

 

 

It’s a stretch that the A’s could make a run for the AL West title with their current lineup, but they’d definitely be contenders if they were to acquire Ramirez.

By adding Ramirez to the No. 3 spot in the Oakland lineup, with Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes surrounding him, the A’s would have a very solid heart of the order. Hanley also brings more speed to the team to add to Jemile Weeks and Coco Crisp.

Ramirez gives the A’s plenty of flexibility, mainly because of his ability to play either shortstop or third base. Since neither position has played well this year, it could be a difficult decision as to whom to immediately replace. My first instinct says shortstop, just because Pennington lacks power and usually hits ninth.

The Marlins aren’t even asking for a lot in return for Ramirez, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami is looking to acquire young players who have decent potential, wrote Jackson.

Oakland has several good prospects that they’ve acquired through recent trades who may be of interest to Miami, including Brad Peacock, A.J. Cole or Derek Norris. Michael Choice would be too much to give up, in my opinion, but Oakland could decide to trade Sonny Gray or Yordy Cabrera. Of course, this is all just speculation, but the A’s clearly have the pieces.

With the trade deadline nearing and the A’s still in the race, it makes sense to make a blockbuster move like this. Hanley Ramirez would not only make the A’s contenders for this season, but for the next few as well. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com