The Cleveland Guardians wrapped up their Spring Training Tuesday with a 10-3 loss to the Rockies, and immediately turned their attention to the final piece of business before Opening Day. Extending All-Star 3rd baseman Jose Ramirez.
Cleveland announced Wednesday that they had come to terms with Ramirez on a 5 year $124M extension which will see the 29 year in a Guardians uniform through 2028. The figure is substantial given the fact that it more than doubled the largest contract ever issued in franchise history. The previous high water mark was set by Edwin Encarnacion’s 3 year/$60M deal.
The Guardians had already picked up Ramirez’s $12M option last November, and will reportedly roll his 2023 option into this new deal as well. Those figures will push the total value north of $150M and will include a full no-trade clause according to sources.
Ramirez’s camp began pushing for an extension following the 2021 season where the slugger posted a .266BA, with 36HRs, 111 runs, 103RBIs and 27 steals. During his 9 seasons in Cleveland, the switch hitter has accumulated 3 silver slugger awards, 3 All-Star appearances, and has finished in the top 3 of AL MVP voting 3 times.
While his name was linked to numerous other organizations including the Blue Jays and Yankees as negotiations dragged on, Cleveland reportedly never wavered in their desire to bring Ramirez back on a long term deal.
The former 30/30 member is the only position player remaining from Cleveland’s 2016 run to the World Series. As the franchise begins to usher in a new era with a new namesake, many within the Guardians front office viewed Ramirez as the club’s top priority heading into the season.
Cleveland is set to open their 2022 campaign against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday April 7th. Shane Bieber is expected to take the mound, while Ramirez will be pencilled in to hit third in the lineup.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.