Call to the pen
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Why the Cleveland Guardians should (but won’t) trade José Ramírez

By Noah Yingling

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 03: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Indians is greeted by teammates after scoring a run in the third inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on October 03, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 03: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Indians is greeted by teammates after scoring a run in the third inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on October 03, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – MAY 01: Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on May 1, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – MAY 01: Corey Kluber #28 of the Cleveland Indians delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on May 1, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Guardians have a long history of not maximizing the return on the players that they are trading

Instead of trading two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber away after the 2018 season when he was entering his final two seasons before free agency, the club kept him. He got injured in 2019 and then they traded Kluber to Texas before 2020. At the time, the deal was widely panned as being a light return, but Kluber only pitched in one inning with them before he was hurt again.

The Guardians traded Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati with one year and two months remaining on his contract and they got Franmil Reyes in return, but the other pieces haven’t panned out.

They traded Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco (both in the same deal to the Mets) after Lindor saw his trade value dip and he had one year left before free agency and they traded other players like Edwin Encarnacion, Mike Clevinger, and Justin Masterson at inopportune times for the team or after the player was at their best value.

Cleveland also thinks they are a “competitive” team. However, unless you have a team that you think can win the World Series, you aren’t truly a competitive team. After all, there’s a reason why the 2015 Kansas City Royals are the only team to win a World Series among middle- or small-market teams since 2004: The winning teams spent money.

Cleveland did spend some money in 2017 and 2018, in particular. The last time they won a playoff game was in Game 2 of the 2017 ALDS. They lost games three through five of the 2017 ALDS, were swept in the 2018 ALDS, and got swept in the 2020 Wild Card Series.

Cleveland hasn’t won a World Series in more than 70 years for a reason: They don’t maximize the value for their trade chips and when they get to the postseason, they choke. It’s really as simple as that.

For this offseason too, there will almost certainly be a shorter window for trading. If a lockout happens on December 2 and the lockout lasts a long time, Cleveland could face a case where they have just a few weeks to trade him before spring training begins.

dark. Next. The Guardians are already off to an inauspicious start

So unless the lockout period is short and Cleveland has learned their lesson on trading players at their peak value, José Ramírez will not be traded this offseason, but rather during next season or next offseason, as the Cleveland Guardians always have with their top talent that they deem they can’t afford for the long term.

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