Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval finalizing deals with Red Sox

It appears as if the Boston Red Sox are trying to shift baseball's balance of power from the West Coast back to New England.

Separate reports have the Red Sox signing both Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval in an effort to jump start their offense.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal says that Ramirez is on his way to Boston to finalize a deal with the Red Sox. We've learned Monday, through Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan, that Ramirez's deal is worth in the neighborhood of $88 million over four years with a vesting option for a fifth year.

Meanwhile, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that Sandoval and the club agreed to a deal worth five years and $100 million. Sandoval's agent has repeatedly said a deal's not done, but many MLB reporters are saying otherwise.

Sandoval's played his entire career in San Francisco, where he was a fan favorite, but seemed to eager to explore free agency. The Giants had hoped to keep him, but Boston chased him quickly the San Diego Padres were very interested too.

The Red Sox, who signed Ramirez as a 16-year-old coming out of the Dominican Republic, had been one of the teams interested in Ramirez's services since the calendar flipped to November. But we'd heard more about their efforts to sign Sandoval and Jon Lester. The Ramirez-to-Boston talk got especially hot Sunday, and didn't drag on too long until we heard confirmation that a finalized deal was on the horizon.

Ramirez, 30, is a career .300 hitter, but his numbers were down a bit in 2014, as he hit .283 with 17 homers and 71 RBIs. For his career, he averages 25 homers and 87 RBIs per 162 games, but he's been injured quite a bit the past two seasons.

He spent the last two and a half years with the Dodgers after becoming a star with the Marlins. Even though Ramirez was originally signed by the Red Sox, he only played two games at the MLB level with them before he was traded to Miami in a deal that brought Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston.

When these deals are finalized, they'll have to figure out where to put Ramirez. The Red Sox probably have a plan in mind already, but there are some moving pieces in play. Ramirez has played shortstop most of his career, though he's not that great defensively. The Red Sox have a young shortstop in Xander Bogaerts, who's better with the glove and was believed to be their future at the position.

So Ramirez could move to third base, but that's where Sandoval has played for the Giants.

Early in the offseason, Ramirez said he was open to a position change, which has some wondering if the Red Sox would try him in the outfield. That's another problem, though, since the Red Sox already have too many bodies and not enough positions. Yoenis Cespedes, Allen Craig, Shane Victorino, Rusney Castillo, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Brock Holt are among the Red Sox's outfielders.

There's already been some chatter about the Red Sox wanting to trade Cespedes, so that's a possibility. Since they're in need of pitching, the Red Sox have also reportedly been talking to the Phillies about a Cole Hamels trade. Perhaps that would thin out a few of these logjams. As Rosenthal suggests: Perhaps the Red Sox trade 22-year-old Bogaerts in a deal to get a pitcher, put Ramirez at shortstop and Sandoval at third.

With Ramirez and Sandoval, no matter where the Sox put them, it equals one stacked lineup when you add DH David Ortiz, second baseman Dustin Pedroia and first baseman Mike Napoli.