Cleveland Guardians: Grading the José Ramírez contract extension

Heading into Wednesday morning, the Cleveland Guardians projected (according to FanGraphs) to have a payroll in 2022 of just $57 million, easily among the bottom teams in Major League Baseball. However, with one big contract extension, that number has taken a leap forward.

According to a tweet from Jeff Passan of ESPN, third baseman José Ramírez and the Cleveland Guardians have reached a deal on a five-year, $124 million contract extension. According to Passan, when you add in this year’s contract and the team also picking up Ramírez’s option for 2023, the 29-year-old Ramírez is now guaranteed $150 million.

That, by the way, more than doubles the biggest contract ever handed out by the Cleveland baseball club. Edwin Encarnación inked a three-year, $60 million deal before the 2017 season, marking the previous high.

Also, the deal has a no-trade clause, meaning Ramírez is part of the Cleveland lineup for the foreseeable future.

What the contract extension means for the Cleveland Guardians and José Ramírez and how we would grade it

The contract extension gives a solid foundation to the Guardians, a team expected to finish near the bottom of the American League Central standings in 2022. With the franchise undergoing a name change heading into the season, the new logo and name was perhaps the piece of news that was generating the most attention in Cleveland for this baseball season. Now, the conversation has changed.

Ramírez has become, during his nine years in Cleveland, one of the best players in baseball. In fact, by WAR and future projections, he is the best third baseman in baseball.

In 2021, he played in 152 games with 36 homers, 103 RBI, 32 doubles, a .266/.355/.538 slash line, a 141 OPS+, and 10 Defensive Runs Saved, so he was good on both sides of the ball. All of that lead to an rWAR of 6.7, which was fourth in the AL. He also finished sixth in AL MVP voting.

Ramírez, a three-time All-Star and Silver Slugger, also has finished in the top six in AL MVP voting in four out of the last five seasons.

With the move, Cleveland not only has a new identity on their merchandise, but also a new outlook for marketing the team and building excitement around it moving forward. Ramírez was the face of the franchise, but with trade rumors swirling, it was hard to generate excitement about the direction of the team … until now.

The contract extension not only boosts Cleveland’s payroll in a big way, but it also gives the franchise a cornerstone for the future, on and off the field. It also keeps Ramírez with the Guardians rather than having him visit Cleveland with another team.

On all levels, this is a move that grades as an A for the Guardians.

How would you grade it for Cleveland? Let us know in the comments section below.