Third baseman José Ramírez and the Cleveland Guardians agreed on a five-year, $124 million extension earlier this morning, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. As part of the agreement, Ramírez receives a full no-trade clause.
Since 2017, Ramírez has proven to be one of the game’s best players. In four of the last five seasons, he’s been among the top-10 leaders in fWAR. Since then, his 28.0 fWAR trails only Mike Trout (29.6) and Mookie Betts (29.2). At 29 years old, he is a three-time All-Star and Silver Slugger. He was runner-up to the AL MVP Award in 2020, after placing third in 2017 and 2018.
José Ramírez’s 2021 stats via Pitcher List’s player pages
The Cleveland Guardians were listening to trade offers and intended to trade Ramírez if they could not extend him. The San Diego Padres, per Héctor Gómez, were aggressively pursuing the third baseman.
Instead, the Guardians did the only logical thing: extend the face of their franchise and one of the best players in baseball. The deal will automatically exercise the team’s 2023 option, then go into effect through 2028. Ramírez will be a free agent after his age-35 season.
(Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)