Cleveland Guardians give Jose Ramirez the bag in massive new extension
By John Buhler
The Cleveland Guardians have agreed to a massive extension with third baseman Jose Ramirez.
On the day before MLB Opening Day 2022, the Cleveland Guardians were able to reach an agreement on a long-term contract extension with All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports it is a five-year contract extension worth $124 million. The deal includes a no-trade clause. Add in what he is slated to make for the 2022 season and the 2023 option getting picked up, Ramirez will be making $150 million in guaranteed money. The 29-year-old Dominican switch hitter is under contract with Cleveland through his age-35 season in 2028.
There was a chance that if both parties were not able to reach an agreement, he would be traded.
BREAKING: Star third baseman José Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians are in agreement on a five-year, $124M contract extension, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Deal includes full no-trade clause. With this year and pickup of a 2023 option, Ramirez is guaranteed $150M.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 6, 2022
Passan added that the Guardians were actively having conversations with other big-league clubs on the possibility of trading Ramirez if they could not agree to a long-term extension. The team that supposedly had the best chance of acquiring him would have been the San Diego Padres. Tough blow for Ole Slam Diego…
The Guardians have been deep into conversations with teams in recent days about a José Ramirez trade — and the expectation was that if the sides didn’t come to terms on a long-term extension, he was going to be traded. The Padres thought they had a real shot at landing Ramirez.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 6, 2022
The other significant thing that Passan brought up is Cleveland had not previously committed any money to Guardians players beyond the 2022 MLB season. Though they are rebuilding, the expectation is for many of their top prospects to be called up in short order to complement Ramirez.
Cleveland previously had $0 committed to players beyond the 2022 season. The Guardians now have their best player locked up through his age-35 season — and a very, very good group of prospects coming. The AL Central is shaping up to be a fascinating division in coming years.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 6, 2022
This move is both shocking and exciting, as the Guardians totally have their franchise cornerstone.
Cleveland Guardians agree to five-year contract extension with 3B Jose Ramirez
Even if Cleveland is not expected to contend for much of anything this year, the Ramirez extension is great news for the Guardians. Ramirez has spent his entire big-league career in Cleveland. The three-time AL All-Star has finished inside of the top 10 in AL MVP voting four times and has brought home three Silver Sluggers in his nine seasons. He is only getting started with the team.
No matter how gracefully he ages into his 30s, Ramirez has a chance to be an all-timer with the Cleveland franchise. If he plays up to his standard for the better part of his contract extension, Cleveland will retire his No. 11 jersey. Though he has a ways to go to build up his stats sheet for potential Cooperstown enshrinement one day, doing it all for one franchise will only help his case.
As for what the future holds in Cleveland, patience will help. With the Chicago White Sox being World Series viable and the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers being in the Wild Card hunt, Cleveland will be duking it out for last in the AL Central with the Kansas City Royals. Again, this extension is not about winning games in 2022, but setting the Guardians up for future success.
For Cleveland to pay anyone big money ahead of its rebuild, the franchise totally values Ramirez.
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