“There has been no movement to date” on a contract extension between Jose Ramirez and the Guardians, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Ramirez is controlled via club option for both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and the Guardians are sure to be exercising the 2022 option (worth $11MM) on the star third baseman in a matter of days. While extension talks usually take place later in the offseason, Ramirez’s long-term future has been a topic of conversation, considering how Cleveland’s penchant for trading star players before they become too expensive for the team’s limited payroll.
Previous negotiations between the player and the team didn’t go anywhere last spring, though Ramirez has said on multiple occasions that he would like to remain in Cleveland. Since the Guardians technically don’t have any salary committed for the 2022 season and beyond, there would appear to be payroll space to afford a Ramirez extension, even if a salary that would likely fall in the $25-$30MM average annual value range would take up a big chunk of the budget. As to whether or not Ramirez could be a trade candidate this winter, the Guardians have tended to deal players when they’ve been a bit closer to free agency than two years, plus Cleveland does plan to contend next year.
More from around the AL Central…
- The Royals’ offseason pitching aim is to “continue to be very disciplined with our young players and work to build a really really strong and powerful and elite championship-caliber bullpen,” president of baseball operations Dayton Moore told The Athletic’s Alec Lewis and other reporters. In a sense, it’s the same strategy that led to Kansas City’s 2015 World Series championship team, but for the 2022 club in particular, a quality relief corps will take some pressure of a young and inexperienced rotation and is still largely getting used to facing big league competition. Moore admitted that the team’s limited payroll makes it “really difficult for us to sign a starting pitcher” of “top-of-the-rotation” caliber, but one tactic could be to pursue long relievers or spot starters to reinforce the younger rotation members. “I think you have to look (at) guys who could give us eight to 10 starts at some point in time,” Moore said.
- The Royals announced that first base coach Rusty Kuntz will move from the coaching ranks to a front office role as a special assistant to the president and GM for quality control. Kuntz has been with the K.C. organization since the 2008 season, working mostly as a first base coach but also spending a few reasons in other front office capacities. Moore said Kuntz may not be the only coaching change but most of the staff will return in 2022.
- The White Sox aren’t planning to make any coaching changes, manager Tony La Russa told Daryl Van Schouwen of The Chicago Sun-Times. “And that’s good, that kind of stability,” La Russa said. “We had a good thing going. It wasn’t accidental that those guys played their [butts] off and part of it was the staff.” The Sox already had a fair amount of coaching turnover last winter, with bench coach Miguel Cairo, pitching coach Ethan Katz, assistant hitting coach Howie Clark, and analytics coordinator Shelley Duncan all joining the staff for the first time.
- Twins star prospect Royce Lewis missed all of 2021 recovering from a torn ACL, but the youngster told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes that he is making good progress in his recovery. The highlight was a pair of Instructional League camp games in October, since represented Lewis’ first proper on-field action since the 2019 Arizona Fall League. Lewis has been medically cleared to play, but he said that he will continue to focus on his running this winter, as he feels he is running at only 60 to 70 percent of his full ability.
The baseball diamond just won’t be the same without Rusty Kuntz hunkering down in the first base coaches’ box.
Rusty Kuntz is an unbeatable name. Prove me wrong
Dick Pole!
Guardians for anything other than a rec league lacrosse team.
How is Rusty’s last name pronounced? Is it a female redhead? Or just a regular female who needs a doctor’s appointment?
“Koooonts”
Ex ChiSox
My college had a biology professor named Dr. Dick Seamen.
Also, in the DC area, there was a OB/GYN named Dr. Harry Beaver.
Doug Fister, Richard Lovelady, Danny Mendick
Charlie Furbush, who was traded for Doug Fister.
Dick Butkus
Jose Ramirez to the Dodgers for Lux, Gonsolin, and Pages.
No chance vtadave. If they make him available, which I seriously doubt that they will, , Cleveland could do much better.
How about a counter proposal to him?
Jose Rameriz, Bobby Bradley, Oscar Mercado, and Bradley Zimmer for Austin Barnes, Cody Bellinger, and Tony Gonsolin.
Since Rameriz salary is so low, Dodgers pay 60% of Cody Bellinger’s salary.
No thank you. You don’t trade a sure thing for a huge question mark.
Lux is a good start but it would probably include Bobby Miler and Micheal Busch as well
I don’t think the Dodgers will trade any more young prospects anytime soon tho
I wouldn’t want Rusty Kuntz in the dugout either, well unless everyone had proof of a tetanus shot.
(something, something)…and Randy Johnson, too!
M’s need a 3B badly. Toro looks to be a depth piece who can play some 3rd and 2nd. They have never been big players in FA(Bryant would be ideal). Landing Ramirez for a package of Kirby, Arroyo, and Trammell while painful would be a fair package. “Guardians” would get a front end rotation prospect, a ready now MLB OF prospect, and an young infielder prospect with a unbelievable ceiling. M’s could get their premier 3B for the next 5 years(if they can get an extension done, and few teams have their financial flexibility). Just my armchair GM opinion.
Three maybe prospects for one of the best players in the game on a very friendly two-year deal would not get it done.
Everybody wants something for nothing. Trammell looks to be a bust as he has not hit and has shuffled already to his third team. Cleveland is loaded with infield prospects so Arroyo does not work.
Kirby is the #2 prospect in Seattle’s system(#2 farm in MLB) and rated #32 overall by MLB.com. How is that in anyway something for nothing? Arroyo is the #2 infielder in their system and Trammell is a ready now 5 tool outfielder. Maybe prospects….laughable.
Marinerblue96, do you read before posting. Cleveland is absolutely loaded with infield prospects that are much more highly rated than Arroyo. They don’t need Arroyo. How can you consider Trammell a 5 tool player when he hasn’t shown that he can hit? Cincinnati and San Diego already gave up on him. Sorry a good pitching prospect and two other mediocre pieces are not getting Jose Ramirez. For a trade to happen, both teams’ needs must be met and your proposal does next to nothing to meet Cleveland’s needs.
Regardless, I don’t see Cleveland trading him this offseason.
Kirby and Arroyo would get the Guardian’s attention. They are the real thing, Trammel is the guy we didn’t take from the Reds in the Trevor Bauer trade.
I’m guessing he wouldn’t be too attractive.
But as Steve Adams said in a chat a while back, Cleveland is asking for the moon and the stars for Ramirez because they don’t have to trade him until next year.
He said the Blue Jays would have to give up Lourdes Gurriel, Nate Pearson, one of Moreno/Orelvis/Groshans, and another prospect in the 15-20 range. You’ve suggested giving us the top prospect and the guy in the 15-20 range. Add a bona fide controllable outfielder and a relief pitcher and we may have a deal.
The Mariners won’t be bringing in a third baseman. They’ll go with Ty France and Toro
France has transitioned to 1B(actually a very good one by seasons end). I just don’t see Evan White breaking with the M’s after camp, probably the best defensive 1B in MLB but his bat is just horrendous. I also didn’t see enough of Toro to be more than a bench/depth player. The M’s don’t have a anything on the farm that will be ready by next year. I can see them filling one of the spots 2B or 3B via FA but the other will likely come via trade.
Ramirez plays roller derby?
I wonder how many will understand this?
I’m just going to keep calling them the Indians. So sad to see that beautiful script name removed from the ballpark.
Best in the biz
Both the Guardians and the Twins say they want to contend this year. Just don’t see it, unless the White Sox totally mess up (don’t think they’re an elite team, but they have far more good players than anyone else in the AL Central).
The Guardians bullpen will be excellent, but a number of their young starters looked over their heads in 2021. They’ve been in a rebuild on the fly for 2-3 years now, They’ve got to get some young, impact position players up that can produce on offense. It’s been years since they’ve developed one. Contention in 2022 might be a bit early.
The Twins pushed teams in the weak ALC around a few years ago by smacking a tremendous amount of HR’s. Taking the some of the juice out of the rabbit ball in 2021 hurt the Twins a lot as many of their hitters reverted back to their norm, The Twins traded away their top starting pitcher and HR hitter, and their defense remains sub-standard.
I think Cleveland and Detroit have great futures beginning in the next 2-3 years. The Royals as well if they can finally develop their pitching – something they’ve not done well with the exception of 3 lights out relief pitchers in 2015-16. They need to revamp their way of teaching and working with pitchers.
Bieber, Civale, Plesac, Quantrill, and McKenzie make a solid, controllable starting staff. Cleveland has a strong farm system as well. They will be fine.
Yeah, you can point to other facets of the Tribe as question marks, but one thing they don’t need to worry about is their starting pitching. “Over their heads” they are not. I’d be much more worried about the White Sox starting staff after seeing how they closed their season.
@ hockeyjohn;
McKenzie, Allen, and Morgan looked over their heads to me. That may well change in time – few pitchers hit MLB for the first time and thrive. Bieber and Civale had injuries, not sure how they’ll come back from them. Plesac pitched more innings than the previous 2 years, but he seemed less effective.
I’m not saying that the starting pitching is bad. But I am saying that it’s questionable for the team to be a contender in 2022. And while Francona mixes and matched his position players each game, it would be nice if an impact prospect or two could come up from the farm system. I was looking forward to Nolan Jones, but because he plays Rameriz’ position (3B) they played him @ 1B and RF this season in Columbus. Young players that are supposed to be strong offensive guys that get moved to other positions because someone is blocking them, often hurt the team defense and spend so much time learning the new positions that their offense suffers.
All this will work itself out, but I’m not sure that will be in 2022. Then again, let’s see what happens this offseason….and Terry Francona is the best manager in MLB – so there’s that.
Allen isn’t in any real fan’s top 5 for the rotation. Bieber, Plesac, Civale, McKenzie, Quantrill. Morgan for 6th man/injury. And if McKenzie and Morgan looked over their head, you stopped watching at the All Star break. The rotation is fine.
Cleveland didn’t have a rotation issue. They can’t hit. And haven’t for a while. They need offense.
The Twins did trade away Cruz. But, I predict, he will be back in Minnesota on a 1-year deal this coming January.
They need Buxton for a full year. That is the only way they upset the White Sox or anyone else.
Twins need pitching. They are a strong offensive team, but they have a below average rotation.
All I ask of the White Sox (being as they are in the same division as the Royals) that if they win the division again like they did this year, that they don’t bow out in the first round & embarrass the AL Central!!!
Guardians do not need prospects. The 40 is already clogged. They need productive controllable major league position players who fit the budget. At $12 million that’s Ramirez. He won’t be traded for prospects alone.
Exactly. And lazy writers like this one saying Ramirez is a candidate to be dealt because of “Cleveland’s penchant for trading star players before they become too expensive for the team’s limited payroll” completely ignore the performance per dollar aspect of the equation. Cleveland never deals star players unless they are more expensive than they are worth OR they view them as a health risk OR the team isn’t forecast to be competitive OR they have someone superior in the wings.
Not one of these factors applies in the Ramirez case. There is no rationale reason to deal Jose Ramirez under the current circumstances in Cleveland. That could change, but an offer of prospects is certainly no way to keep Chernoff or Antonetti on the line, that’s for darn sure.
Royals need to focus heavily on BP this off-season. When the Royals shutdown innings 7-9 they were dominate. They have a lot of money to work with, so let’s go get some people!
I’d love to see the Cardinals go after Jose Ramirez. He can play 2b and move Edman to SS. Then the Cardinals can trade DeJong for pitching.
Trade DeJong for what? A number 5 starter or average middle reliever? He has trended down as a hitter since his debut. With a loaded shortstop market this year and potentially a few big names like Bogaerts out there next year, DeJong doesn’t hold that much value to where he will net much more than a back end starter right now. …. on the Cards side, Sosa will be getting the reps at short. That would be the only realistic reason they would trade DeJong
‘Contending” is subjective.. Competing isn’t.. The Guardians will contend.. with or without Jose Ramirez. The key to any competition is performance when it matters most.. Jose Ramirez does this as well as anyone in the big leagues.. For this reason, he is extremely valuable to the Guardians and/or any team that can equal the value the CleFO sets for him by stepping up & dealing for him.
The Mariners suggestion including Taylor Trammel would be inadequate. While Edwin Arroyo is an excellent prospect, he’s 18 years old and has a LONG way before he’d be able to contribute. The Guardians would have interest in Arroyo, however, more as an inclusion into an exchange of deep/well thought prospects.
Example: Edwin Arroyo SS for Gavin Williams LHP would be tacked onto what the deal’s focus should be…
George Kirby is an excellent prospect…worthy of inclusion in a deal such as this. He is ML ready or near ML ready. So, for the M’s suggestion, one of three that would be of significant interest. That’s not enough
Who would be of interest from the M’s shouldn’t be available. The M’s have to keep their star players to compete in 2022.. They had a wonderful season from Mitch Haniger.. making him all but untradeable, but, that’s who the Guardians would want as part of a Jose Ramirez package.
So, what appears to be what might be a good fit, doesn’t really fit into the M’s or Guard’s plan to compete in 2022. rendering the deal DOA..
The Cardinals suggestion about using Jose Ramirez as a 2B would be possible.. but, not the best use of either Ramirez’s value or the Cardinals resources..
I just don’t see the fit of Haniger for the CLE. He’s a FA after the season so he isn’t controllable. Kyle Lewis who was the 2020 ROY would be interesting for the Guardians but his injury history would be a flag for any team.
LOL
Both of you re correct.
Just because Cleveland may trade Rameriz and Seattle could use him, does not mean the teams match up for a trade. We could go through a list of contending teams that could use Rameriz at 3B or possibly 2B. But again, the Indians are chock full of prospects and trading Rameriz for more only mean they lose players in the draft.
You want to get a 3rd team involved, then maybe something could be worked out. Realistically it’s hard to see Cleveland trading Rameriz. Keep in mind that from the end of the WS till early spring training, it’s Silly Season. Absurd trade scenarios are made by fans that want a name player so they offer players back that will not fit with the needs of the other team. It’s already started on these boards and will continue.
marinersblue96, I’ll give you this…….
At least you didn’t come on here like NYC baseball fans do offering 2 or 3 of their their failed players along with an overpaid average veteran for a quality major leaguer on a reasonable contract.
Royce Lewis is the obvious answer at SS for the Twins, which allows Gordon to stay in the UTIL role. But, the Twins will need a bridge to Lewis, and Andrelton Simmons might be the best option for them, even though he cannot hit anymore.
I want the White Sox to make one coaching change: TLR. It seems the team did better with fundamentals under Renteria. The team seemed to completely forget how to run the bases, move runners over, and field at times. A number of their losses were self-inflicted.
Did you just not watch with them under Renteria? Cause they did all of those things with him too. TLR did absolutely nothing to improve that, and he definitely cost the Sox games early in the season with extremely questionable decisions, but this is a team on the rise, window open. Having 3 managers in 3 years is a good way to experience a setback with a young team, a team that needs stability. It’s about the only thing I agree with TLR on is keeping him helps with team stability, and it isn’t like there is a guaranteed better option around.
The only time the Sox played fundamental baseball with Kenny Williams filling the roster was under Ozzie. He fought constantly with Williams over players. Williams kept giving him lumbering power hitters that couldn’t do anything but mash. Since Ozzie left it’s always the same – throwing the ball around the field on D, running themselves out of innings, etc.
They change managers, but the play on the field doesn’t change. The Sox style of play works in a division whose team are rebuilding, It does not, and will not, work in the playoffs other then perhaps the Wild Card round.
Are they really going by Guardians? Just doesn’t sound right.