Guardians Close To Extension With Jose Ramirez

Jose Ramirez appears to be nearing another extension with the Guardians that will keep the third baseman in Cleveland through his age-39 season in 2032.  Z101 Digital’s Hector Gomez was the first to report about the agreement and described it as complete, while Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the Guards and Ramirez’s reps at Republik Sports are still “working on” the new arrangement.

Ramirez still has three seasons and $69MM remaining on the seven-year, $141MM extension he signed with Cleveland in April 2022.  Gomez writes that this new extension will pay $106MM more to Ramirez over the 2029-32 seasons, but there will be some restructuring of Ramirez’s salary.  As per Heyman, the $175MM owed to Ramirez over the next seven seasons will now include $70MM in deferred money.

Assuming the extension is finalized, it should ensure that Ramirez remains in a Guards uniform throughout the entirety of his career, only further cementing his place as a Cleveland baseball legend.  Ramirez signed with the organization as an international free agent in 2009 at age 17, and has gone on to hit .279/.353/.504 with 285 home runs and 287 steals (out of 349 chances) over 6759 plate appearances.  Between his strong offense and impressive glovework at third base, Ramirez has amassed 57.6 bWAR over his career — the fifth-highest total of any player in Indians/Guardians history.

Ramirez turned 33 last September but doesn’t appear to be slowing down, as he hit .283/.360/.503 with 30 homers and a career-best 44 steals over 673 PA.  These big numbers and his leading role in the Guardians’ late-season surge to the AL Central title helped Ramirez earn a third-place finish in AL MVP voting.  While the MVP trophy continues to elude Ramirez, he has now recorded a second-place finish (in 2020), three thirds, and three other top-six placements during his outstanding career.

More to come…