The Rays have signed veteran shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who was recently released by the Padres, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The signing of Ramirez comes less than a week after the news that shortstop Matt Duffy would likely undergo season-ending surgery to alleviate a nagging Achilles injury.
The 34-year-old Ramirez inked a one-year, $4MM contract with the Padres on the heels of a disappointing 2015 season — albeit one that saw him finish with a strong .282/.329/.426 in the season’s final three months — but received woeful results from the longtime White Sox infielder. Ramirez batted just .240/.275/.330 through 444 plate appearances with the Friars, and while he’s long graded out as a plus defender at short, Defensive Runs Saved pegged him at -17 this season, with Ultimate Zone Rating offering a similar assessment (-15.1).
Furthermore, Tampa Bay’s decision to sign Ramirez rather than bring the recently demoted Tim Beckham back to the Majors sends a strong message to the former No. 1 overall pick (as Topkin tweets). Beckham was demoted for a trio of baserunning blunders just prior to roster expansion, two of which directly stemmed from a lack of hustle. While the 26-year-old showed some improvement at the dish this season, hitting .247/.300/.434 in 215 plate appearances, he’s yet to justify his elite draft spot or even cement himself as a viable long-term option for the Rays.
Details on Ramirez’s contract aren’t yet clear, but it’s presumably just a one-year Major League pact, meaning it would run only through the end of the 2016 season. The Rays, then, would be on the hook for nothing more than the pro-rated portion of the league minimum. While that’s a fairly negligible investment, it’s still something of a mildly unexpected bonus for the Padres, who will save about $70K due to the Rays’ unexpected expenditure.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
So- is it like a 3 week contract?
Color me surprised.
“Alexxxxiiiiiiiiiiii”-Hawk H
On Kris Bryant: “He’s got 36 homeruns and 91 RBIs but he’s not Todd Frazier defensively.” – Hawk H
Hawk H makes my blood boil, he’s so annoying and bias, adds zero commentary to the game other than “YES! YES! YES! YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD! MARK BUERHLE IS THE GREATEST PITCHER OF ALL TIME! YOU GOT TO BE BLEEPING ME WEGNER! WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?” So annoying I hope he gets fired some day, does nothing other than adding bias commentaries. Coming from a Tigers fan color me salty
He terrible, worse than remy and eckersly in Boston for bias
The fact that he refers to the Whitesox as the “good guys” while implying that the other team is the “bad guys” just shows how biased he is.
JFisnasty, I’ll give you that Eck is biased, but Remy? I don’t see it. When Remy was paired with Don Orsillo, I felt they were one of the more neutral broadcast teams. Not sure where you’re coming from, especially when comparing him to Hawk – that’s just cruel.
Maybe he’s not to bad, I’ve only watched a few sox games on nesn and noticed it a bit. But like you said, eck defintly is
I have no idea how Hawk has a job.
Yeah that guy is probably one of the most annoying sports commentators I’ve ever heard. I feel bad for the fact that you white sox fans shave to listen to him on a season-long basis.
*have
Same way that a bunch of unqualified white sox employees do (lookin at you kenny williams)
Completely useless signing.
You’d think that…..and you’d be correct.
They needed a shortstop for 3 weeks. What’s the problem?
In my opinion, they should have called Beckham back up to the majors. I think he got the message by now and since the minor league season is finished he is just sitting at home. How does that help him? The at bats that he could have had to help his development are now going to a 34 year old that will not be on the team (and maybe not on any MLB team) next year.
Or maybe Beckham is getting the message sitting at home instead of getting some “additional development time”
He’s had enough development time. He doesn’t field well, he is a marginal hitter and worst of all, he doesn’t play hard.
Maybe he won’t be on team or any MLB team next year either.
Saving, evening it’s just a penny, is that cheap-ass Padres owner’s bottom line. Just like when Tom Werner owned them. A triple-A team masquerading itself as major-league-caliber, unsuccessfully.
I think it’s safe to say that the Padres were not expecting any other club to pick up Ramirez at this point.
You do remember when that “cheap-ass” Padres owner took on a hundred million dollars of contracts last offseason, right?
Yawn
What does Hawk have to do with this post?
#RaysGonnaRay
Really good pickup for the Rays.