Cleveland Indians Completing Contract Extension with Jose Ramirez

The Cleveland Indians are reportedly close to a four-year extension with Jose Ramirez, making a long-term commitment to the infielder after a breakout year.

The Cleveland Indians aren’t wasting much time in rewarding Jose Ramirez for last year’s breakout season. According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, the Tribe are putting the finishing touches on a four-year contract extension with the 24-year-old infielder. The new deal will take effect in 2018, covering Ramirez’s arbitration years and one year of free agency eligibility.

The agreement also includes a pair of club options that could extend the deal through the 2023 campaign. Passan tweeted the following financial details:

Ramirez certainly burst onto the scene in 2016, his first full season after three years of limited playing time at the big league level. In 152 games, he slashed .312/.363/.462 with 11 home runs and 76 RBI. He showed discipline at the plate with a 10 percent strikeout rate, and also proved his worth on the base paths by swiping 22 bags. His contributions continued into the postseason, where he hit .310 in the World Series and put Cleveland on the board in Game 5 with a solo homer.

The Indians are banking that last year – Ramirez’s first real extended success in the major leagues – was no fluke. Over the previous three seasons he played a total of 180 games, slashing an uninspiring .239/.298/.346 with eight homers, 44 RBI and 20 steals. However, given Ramirez’s young age, it’s not unreasonable to believe that things just might have clicked for him in 2016.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Ramirez’s .333 BABIP was above league average, but not exorbitantly so, meaning a huge regression probably isn’t in the cards. Another .300-plus batting average might not be a given, though. However, he’s consistently avoided strikeouts throughout his career (11 percent), which bodes well for Ramirez remaining a positive force in the lineup.

Ramirez also provides the Tribe with a lot of positional versatility, which will be useful to them no matter how he performs with the bat.

While he made the bulk of his appearances (117) at third base last season, he also played 48 contests in left field along with a handful of fill-ins at second base and shortstop. Ramirez will man the hot corner once again in 2017, but he’s more than capable of playing at several other spots in a pinch. That might happen as soon as Opening Day, with second baseman Jason Kipnis‘ status uncertain.

As Passan notes, Cleveland has made a habit of locking up players early, signing Kipnis, Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco to extensions in recent years. Ramirez continues the trend, a good one for a club with a traditionally limited payroll whose success is largely predicated on keeping its young core intact. Questions about a long-term deal will inevitably follow Ramirez’s partner on the left side of the infield and emerging face of the franchise, Francisco Lindor.

Next: Indians 2017 Team Preview

The Indians are poised to make another run at the Fall Classic, with most pundits tabbing them and the Boston Red Sox as the clear favorites in the American League. With the addition of slugger Edwin Encarnacion and a healthy pitching staff, it’s hard to argue. Jose Ramirez, new deal in tow, aims to once again be an important part of the puzzle.