One could forgive Jose Ramirez for looking around at the batting order and wondering who is left. The Cleveland Guardians have traded virtually everyone else away, leaving Ramirez as essentially the last man standing. It is expected that, eventually, Ramirez will be out the door as well.
To their credit, the Guardians have resisted that temptation. In fact, according to Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, the two sides have been attempting to come up with comparable players to Ramirez to determine an extension.
For his part, Ramirez wants to remain in Cleveland. He has been adamant that he wants to retire as a member of the Guardians and that he does not want to play anywhere else. In this case, it is a matter of the dollars making sense.
Cleveland Guardians need to find a way to keep Jose Ramirez
One can understand why the Guardians would want to keep Ramirez. Likewise, it is easy to see why other teams would be so interested in his services. Ramirez has emerged as one of the top players in the game, let alone at the hot corner. Since the start of the 2017 campaign, he has produced a stellar .280/.365/.547 batting line, hitting 144 homers and 175 doubles while stealing 112 bases. In that time, he has finished in the top three of the MVP voting three times, been a three time All Star, and won the Silver Slugger three times.
Ramirez has been a solid defensive player as well. He has saved nine runs at the hot corner over the past five years, a total that was skewed due to the shortened 2020 season. If need be, he can also play at second and short, although he has exclusively appeared at third since the beginning of 2019.
The Guardians have time to figure out an extension. Ramirez is under team control through 2023, making a deal less of an immediate priority. But the Guardians still need to figure out what that contract will look like, and whether or not they are willing to spend that much money to retain one of the best players in the league.
The Cleveland Guardians and Jose Ramirez are interested in working out an extension. It is now a matter of getting the dollars to work out.