The Indians received a scare when Jose Ramirez fouled a ball off his left knee during the third inning of today’s game against the White Sox. Ramirez had to be carted off the field, though it seems as though the worst was avoided, as x-rays came back negative on the injury. (ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan was among those to report the news.) It isn’t clear if the knee contusion could still cause Ramirez to miss regular-season time or even require an IL stint — if the latter, it would another big blow to a Tribe infield that is already without Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis for the start of the season. As per the team’s official Twitter feed, Ramirez will remain at the Tribe’s Spring Training camp for treatment, and his status is undecided for Opening Day.
Some more from the AL Central…
- Hanley Ramirez is looking like a strong bet to break camp with the Indians, as manager Terry Francona told MLB.com’s Mandy Bell and other reporters that “if we stay put” with roster moves, Ramirez will make the team. Today was the opt-out date in the veteran slugger’s minor league contract with Cleveland, though it looks as if a quality Spring Training performance (.844 OPS in 38 PA) has earned Ramirez the opportunity to appear in his 15th Major League season. Ramirez is something of a limited resource on the 25-man roster, as the team intends to use him only as a designated hitter, though his presence allows Jake Bauers to be spelled against tough left-handed pitching. Assuming Ramirez does officially make the roster, he’ll earn $1MM in guaranteed salary.
- JaCoby Jones will start the season on the IL after suffering a left shoulder sprain while diving for a ball on Saturday. Speaking with media (including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News), Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire hinted at a rough 2-3 week timeline for Jones’ recovery, though Gardenhire’s estimate seemed speculative. Jones and Mikie Mahtook were slated to share center field duties for the Tigers, though Niko Goodrum will now see some time in center with Jones out, plus outfielder Dustin Peterson could now factor into Detroit’s Opening Day plans.
- Eloy Jimenez’s record-setting extension with the White Sox was almost completed last November at the GM Meetings, GM Rick Hahn told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and other reporters, but the final details weren’t put into place until the two sides held face-to-face meetings over the last few days. The result was a six-year, $43MM pact, the biggest extension ever given to a player who has yet to play a Major League game. There has yet to be official word about whether or not Jimenez will be with the Sox on Opening Day, though there wouldn’t seem to be any service-time obstacles now that the White Sox control Jimenez for as many as his first eight big league seasons.
shelteredsoxfan
The Sox have no reason not to have eloy on the opening day roster. As a diehard Sox fan, he’s the only real reason to watch anyways
ChiSox_Fan
Moncada looked good in the spring.
He will bounce back.
Moncada “Comeback Player of the Year”!
Eloy MVP.
redsfan48
Moncada can’t be Comeback Player of the Year. He’s never really established himself as a star or anything more than average, so even if he breaks out, it wouldn’t be considered a comeback.
sufferforsnakes
“Comeback Can’t Miss Prospect of the Year”?
bastros88
the hey, he accomplished something or the maybe he isn’t a bust after all award
jbigz12
Wasn’t Miles Mikolas in the running last year? He did absolutely nothing before going to japan but I suppose he did actually “come back” to the MLB.
oldleftylong
Mike Hessman, Toledo Mud Hens
dankyank
Ridiculous. What track record exists for Moncada to justify labelling him a comeback candidate?
And why such optimism about the current rebuild? It’s six years in and the position player talent is middling at best.
ChiSox_Fan
He was MVP candidate last year.
Sucked.
Now comeback kid!
dankyank
This is just idiotic.
Perhaps he was a breakout candidate, but his failure to do so makes him closer to a bust or also ran than anything else.
knuck2
6 years? It’s a little over 2 years in to the Sox rebuild and no position player has yet to fail.
ASapsFables
dankyank: FYI-The White Sox rebuild essentially kick-started on Dec.6, 2016 at the Winter Meetings when Chris Sale was traded to the Red Sox for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and two other prospects. Adam Eaton was traded the following day for Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and top-100 prospect Dane Dunning. That would put the rebuild at 2 years and 108 days as we post. Your 6 year “quip” will mark the time that the White Sox will have 3 AL Central Division titles under their belt along with at least one World Series championship.
bastros88
2 years! what were the white Sox doing the past decade, just casually sucking?
shelteredsoxfan
Moncada has failed. He’s the only notable position player so far. The pitching has been abysmal and all their prospects are getting hurt. It’s been a failure and will most likely continue to be so
Priggs89
He still managed to put up 2.0 fWAR in his first full season despite being “awful” and a “bust” according to most people. It’s pretty funny how quickly some people want to write him off. If he can find an actual major league approach at the plate and stick with it, he’ll be more than fine. He has already looked significantly more aggressive in spring training; hopefully that translates to the regular season – and hopefully it’s not freezing cold in the midwest to start the year.
ASapsFables
bastros88: The White Sox were “casually” retooling and reloading the past decade until “newer” GM Rick Hahn finally convinced owner Jerry Reinsdorf and VP Kenny Williams that they needed to do a proper rebuild if they had any chance of becoming successful. This conversation took place around the time of the 2016 summer trade deadline when they began the process of fielding offers for many of their veteran players. Those discussions manifested in their two blockbuster trades at the subsequent Winter Meetings that kick-started the rebuild and has continued to this date with the historic extension given to yet another major trade acquisition in Eloy Jimenez.
dankyank
Notice how I never formally put the bust label on Moncada. He’s simply too young. Still, it would be a heck of a lot closer to the truth than comeback or MVP candidate. Last year was a clear step back and spring training is exactly that.
Kevin 23
Moncada can’t hit a big league breaking ball! Sure, he looked “ok” this spring against pitchers that A.were just working on fastball command in meaningless games or B, are going to be pitching in AA this year, He IS A BUST!
Priggs89
Yes, that’s exactly what pitchers do in spring training – try to locate fastballs and forget about all their breaking pitches.
Also, you have some pretty high standards if a .354/.475/.667 slash is just “ok.”
Idioms for Idiots
@bastros88
Basically, yes. Though the Sox FO called it “reloading”.
oldleftylong
Mike Hessman, Toledo Mud Hens
Zac Ratliff
In order to be a comeback player, one must be sure to actually come. Noticeably.
nymetsking
I think that’s a “skill” in a different entertainment field.
Zac Ratliff
*bumps it
24TheKid
Moncada has always looked good against minor league pitchers.
oldleftylong
Mike Hessman, Toledo Mud Hens
Ronk325
It’s a bit ridiculous to pick a guy who’s yet to make his big league debut to win MVP. Especially considering the number of elite players in the AL and the fact that the White Sox will probably be a 3rd place team
Chicks Dig the Longball
Moncada, Buxton, Brinson will all be competing for the “Top Prospect that Sucked but Now is a Star” award this year.
GarryHarris
Breakout season
miggy4prez
Just…no
maximumvelocity
I guess the cure for improving a player’s non-ready-for-MLB defense is to pay him $43 million.
trident
Is Eloy starting in AAA for sure?
ASapsFables
Eloy Jimenez will be in LF for the White Sox on opening day in Kansas City this coming Thursday. The White Sox have already cut their number of outfielders in MLB camp down to 5 and all of those, including Jimenez are on the 40-man roster and will be part of the 25-man active list in KC.
Bocephus
There’s always 1 to 2 fans of teams on here that see things through such extreme homer glasses it’s truly scary. Nobody including the White Sox FO feels their rebuild is only two years and change old. Aaron it’s absolutely ok to always find a silver lining in your fandom, but please don’t expect everyone to be pulled down your rabbit hole.
Priggs89
Everybody, including the Sox front office, knows this full rebuild is only 2 years and change old. You really think they were “rebuilding” with Sale, Quintana, and Eaton on the team? They were clrearly trying to win. They went about it very poorly, but they were trying at the time.
Bocephus
I guess you’re that second guy…
Steven Chinwood
If the White Sox were interested in putting a quality product on the field they’d have signed Machado, but no they cry about money.
Idioms for Idiots
@Bocephus
You do understand what a rebuild is, don’t you? If you call what the Sox were doing before the Sale and Eaton trades a rebuild, that was the worst attempt at a rebuild in the history of organized sports. The Sox had one of the worst (if not the worst) minor league system in MLB this entire decade before the trades. A strong minor league system is necessary in a full rebuild, and that’s what the Sox got with the Sale, Q, and Eaton trades. Whether the rebuild pans out remains to be seen, but Hahn was very successful in at least setting up a great framework for the rebuild.
For anyone who thinks the Sox would’ve been better off keeping Sale, Q, and Eaton, sure, if you’re content with 75-win seasons for the next 5 to 10 years. I guess 75 wins are better than 60 wins, but the way MLB is now, it actually benefits you more to be horrible than mediocre.
BTW, I guess I’m that 3rd guy LOL
minoso9
@bastros 88-Bocephus-Kevin et al I’ll be that 4th guy down the rabbit hole. The Sox have excellent outfield prospects, and the young infielders (Moncada, Anderson, Madrigal) and catching (Z. Collins) looks good for the future. Pitching prospects have been hampered by injuries and this is an area of concern. Most of our youngsters were acquired through trades beginning late in 2016 or the draft. In just another year or two all the cynics and doubters will be chomping down their words.
ifonlydetroitcoulddraft
Peterson deserves the 4th outfielder role in Detroit. But Daz is knocking on the door for the starting CF job
Melchez
Cameron in center. Paredes at short. Get rid of half the AAAA relief pitchers they have.
stymeedone
Paredes is outgrowing SS. Willie Castro will get the first crack at that job. Still time for the young pitchers to develop, though Farmer and VerHagen are running out of chances. Jimenez looks for real, and Jose Ciserno has surprised in camp. Let’s see what they have first.
sufferforsnakes
I’m still mad that the Tribe traded Castro.
diller1340
Willie Castro at SS, Paredes at 3B, Candalario at 1B, miggy DH. That is the future
Melchez
Mikie Nahtook and Dustin Pederson in the same outfield…. good lord. The Tigers are really trying for that top pick.
stymeedone
Still beats the Giants OF, lol. Still, losing Jones defense hurts because neither Stewart or Castellanos cover much ground. While Peterson hit better, I could see Victor Reyes being added for defense.
GarryHarris
Whatever the Tigers opening day OF (and IF) looks like, it will be completely different the last month of the season. Both Mikie Mahtook and Dustin Peterson are good defenders and that’s what they need now. I expect Daz Cameron to be the CF by July. Nick Castellanos will be traded and RF occupied by committee.
bobtillman
1M/ year gamble on Han-Ram is a pretty shrewd role of the dice. He can’t do much else, but the man can hit the baseball. There’s all kinds of rumors about his attitude, but Tito’s handled those in the past.
stymeedone
If Jose is out, maybe stick Ham-Ram at 3B for a couple weeks. It would be sad if they have to add their 2nd choice behind Brad Miller.
indiansfan44
If anything I think it’s more likely they stick Santana at Third and pull Bauers back to first if Jose starts on IL.
bobtillman
Giving a glove to Santana, Han-Ram or Miller (or an OFer glove to Bauers) will have Kluber/Bauers et al running toward the exits and calling their agents, to sue for breach of contract….they were promised a MLB team in the field…..
jbigz12
I think there are far worse outfielders playing in the corner than Bauers would be on a part time basis. Santana isn’t that bad of a 1B either.
jbigz12
Hanley Ramirez is not starting at 3B ever again.
Polish Hammer
Santana is a good 1B.
pjmcnu
Only real obstacle might be the tacit admission that they were only after service time manipulation. Kinda hard to claim assigning him to AAA was legit, if the only “development” he did after the assignment was getting 1 rep of contract extension signing. Will White Sox try to avoid the bad optics by keeping him down, or make the admission & get 2 extra weeks of Eloy? Time will tell.
maximumvelocity
They will probably send down Palka, then say Eloy outperformed him. Gotta throw someone under the bus.
Idioms for Idiots
@maximumvelocity
If they send down Palka, Eloy probably did outperform him. Palka’s not exactly a gold glover either. And it’s not like Palka hit .300 with 35 HR and 120 RBI last year. Palka’s maybe a 4th OF at best. Doesn’t take a genius to replace a 4th OF with a potential offensive centerpiece. If that means Palka gets thrown under the bus, so be it.
Priggs89
Eloy isn’t going to file a grievance after the contract they gave him, so I don’t really see that as an obstacle. He also raised his slash line from .154/.154/.346 to .250/.273/.500 since spending ~2 weeks in the minor league camp (aka the reason why you can’t make decisions based on tiny sample sizes). They could very easily say that those 2 weeks helped him sort out his “timing issues” he was having. Obviously everybody with a brain knows what they were doing, but I think it’s safe to say it won’t amount to much of anything.
maximumvelocity
He could if the rumors are true, and they basically threatened to hold him down indefinitely unless he signed a deal that sacrificed years for the opportunity to play now. It’s unlikely, but I wouldn’t put it past Hahn to pull some nonsense like that, and the fact they approached him in the Fall, and that they all of the sudden have no more concerns over his defense and slow start are highly suspect. He may not file, but cases like this could be used as evidence by a future player being screwed by a team.
stymeedone
Paranoid much? That sounds pretty much like a conspiracy theory.
Priggs89
What Cubs fan started those rumors?
It’s obvious to everyone with a brain that they were going to keep him down a couple weeks for the extra year of control if they didn’t sign him to this extension. Holding him in AAA “indefinitely” to get a deal done is laughable at best.
Steven Juris
It was never about the defense. That was an excuse to deliberately manipulate their control over him. Just like the Jays are doing with Guerrero Jr.
maximumvelocity
Not a conspiracy at all. If Eloy doesn’t sign deal, he’s stuck in AAA until the team collects another year of service time. They had already sent him to AAA camp, but now plan to bring him back, after the deal was signed. And they wanted him to sign such a deal last year. No conspiracy. They telegraphed their intent to manipulate service time.
mike127
Priggs–always trust/respect your opinion….do you know, under the new rule, since Eloy was “optioned” does he have to stay in the minors for 10 days? 15? And , if so, do you know (spring training obvious barrier) does it start at time of option or Opening Day? He may not be eligible to be recalled before day 10 or so. Of course, barring an injury list situation which will allow him to take that player’s spot. If you know, please reply—or anyone else.
Idioms for Idiots
@mike127
He must stay down 10 days UNLESS he replaces a player due to injury. So my guess is someone will be making a visit to the DL in the next couple of days.
Steven Juris
been 10 days already or it will be by Thursday. No qualifications from 10 days other then 10 actual days have to go by.
Idioms for Idiots
@ Steven Juris
My guess is 10 regular season days, but now you said that, I’m not positive. Good point. I would still guess the first 10 days of the regular season, but I would gladly admit being wrong in this case.
Priggs89
I honestly have no clue how that works. I don’t know if an official opening day lineup has been released yet or not, but I’m fairly certain they’re smart enough to figure out a way to get him on the opening day roster to start the season either way. If it takes someone else being “injured,” I think Jon Jay is still hurting a little bit anyways, so I’m sure they’d just add him to injury list.
Idioms for Idiots
@pjmcnu
Why are we still even concerned with this? Hahn would’ve been an idiot not to send him down to take advantage of a loophole other GMs already took advantage of. Hahn would’ve been a bigger idiot for bragging to the world that he took advantage of this loophole. Everyone knows that’s what he did. Who cares? It’s a legal move in MLB. Get over it.
Even if you’re against the legal move of service time manipulation, Hahn corrected that with the contract. Now Eloy never has to worry about getting sent down (unless he’s that bad of a flop) or arbitration. He has $43MM guaranteed, life-changing money for a kid from the DR. Problem solved. So, again, why are we still even concerned with this?
bigkempin
“As a diehard Sox fan, he’s the only real reason to watch anyways”
So a “diehard” fan only has 1 real reason to a watch a team? A real fan would watch/support a team whether they win 70 games or the World Series.
ChiSox_Fan
He lives in a shelter.
Cut him some slack.
mike127
Well, bigkem——since the Sox won’t win 70 nor the World Series maybe he is correct that Eloy may be the only reason to watch.
Michael Chaney
Jose Ramirez can have my knee if he needs it
stansfield123
If the Indians lose Ramirez, they’re in biiiiiiiig trouble. Even in the worst division in baseball.
DarkSide830
if they lose Ramirez they will have their pre-Miller INF situation, except you have Miller replacing Ramirez they would probably have a claim at each of the worst infield, outfield, and bullpen in 2019.
Laibax
Wrong Jose Ramirez is linked to baseball reference.
pplama
Sox optioned Eloy to Minor League camp. S they’d need to place someone on the DL for him to open the season on the 25 man roster, or wait 10 days to call him up.
canocorn
I’d start Eloy at AAA for a couple weeks to work on defense and timing. Bring him up red-hot, not ice cold.
Chicks Dig the Longball
What are the White Sox playing for? Might as well get his timing down against Major League pitching
Priggs89
1) Do you really think a “couple weeks” in the minors is going to affect his defense any more or less than playing in the bigs?
2) He’s 4-for-6 with a home run in his 2 games back after being sent to minor league camp for ~2 weeks. He raised his OPS almost 300 points in those 2 games. That’s the danger with looking at a small spring training sample size and saying “he’s not ready.” His timing is back to where it should be.
jbigz12
I agree Priggs. Eloy is probably never going to play “good” defense. He can’t make himself any faster. Might as well start shagging balls In a major league outfield on a bad Chicago team. He’s going to be in there for his elite bat.
ChiSoxCity
First base?
Steven Juris
Abreu can’t play outfield either and we have DHs already.
Priggs89
Too early to consider a move to first base. He’s not an elite athlete (running-wise), but he actually moves pretty well for his size, so I’m not overly worried about his defense. I think he can sit right around average pretty easily. That, plus the fact that I’m not overly concerned with corner outfield defense to begin with. I’m only considering a move to first (or DH) in the near future if: 1) he’s injured and will be better off not chasing down fly balls, or 2) multiple OF prospects perform well enough to come up in the next couple years and we need to make room for them.
axisofhonor25
Of course my first round pick who I drafted yesterday gets carted off.
Chicks Dig the Longball
Wonder how long Tatis stays down. Obviously through April 13th, but a since he hasn’t played in AAA yet, how many ABs do they need to see past that?
Yankeepatriot
That Indians lineup without Ramirez would be borderline horrific. Lindor will get walked every single time
chicagofan1978
It’s funny the two Sox fans that are always on cubs stories are nowhere to be found on this one. What gives? I think Eloy makes the opening day roster. No reason not to
ChiSoxCity
Not much to talk about. Eloy is just a piece—the Sox have a long way to go still. I estimate another three years before we even know who’s any good and who’s not in their pitching rotation.
Chicks Dig the Longball
Eloy isn’t just a piece. He is the piece. Why else would the Sox lock him up for nearly a decade?
chicagofan1978
Wow 3 years? I admit they will probably not win the division this year. Which is absurd given how bad it is. But 3? I was thinking next year is a great start. The Cleveland rotation will probably be torn apart after they are inevitably torn apart in the playoffs