Guardians fans can now breathe a sigh of relief. Jose Ramirez will be staying in Cleveland for a long time. The best position player on the Guardians has agreed to a contract extension, which is something new compared to recent experience. Ramirez agreed to a five-year, $124 million extension that will keep him in Cleveland through 2028 as first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Ramirez also gets a no-trade clause as part of the deal.
Many around MLB were surprised by the deal, along with long-time fans of the Indians (now Guardians) who have seen players like Francisco Lindor leave for piles of cash, not to mention greats from the past like Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, C.C. Sabathia and many others.
Ramirez clearly left money on the table with this deal. He is very comfortable in Cleveland and wanted to stay here. That said he had two more years on his current deal, and a total of $150 million guaranteed will set him and his family up for life. He didn’t chase the last dollar, and the Guardians will be much better for it.
The prospect of trading Ramirez after unloading Lindor and and quiet offseason had to be a very unattractive options for the front office. I thought they would go even higher to keep Jose. But in the end it’s a team-friendly deal that also sets up the player to thrive in a city where he’s comfortable.
Also, over time I suspect we’ll see that the Guardians ultimately kept the better player between Ramirez and Lindor. By FanGraphs’ wins above replacement metric, Ramirez has been the third-most valuable position player of the past five seasons. Lindor is a great talent, but it’s doubtful he will ever live up to his ridiculous deal with the Mets. Linder’s production was already tailing off in Cleveland before his disastrous 2021 season in New York. Perhaps we will rebound in 2022 and for years to come, but many would gladly take Ramirez over Lindor even without considering the salaries. With the salaries it’s no contest. Lindor wanted to play under the big lights of New York, but the pressure got to him last year. Ramirez can continue to play in an environment that he loves.
Now the Guardians need to turn their attention to Shane Bieber. He’s won a Cy Young Award and he’s the ace of a fantastic pitching staff. Bieber signed a one-year contract worth $6 million for the 2022 season and the Guardians avoided arbitration. They control Bieber through the 2024 season, and the team has indicated they want to sign him to a long-term deal. That would go a long way towards rebuilding credibility with the fan base.
The Guardians have a great starting pitching staff and they have some young position players that could blossom into productive players. The team didn’t add veteran bats, but that can happen during the season if the team sees a need. The key will be keeping the pitching staff healthy.
Meanwhile, fans can celebrate opening day with the knowledge that Jose Ramirez will be here for a long time.
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If you listen to national sports commentators other than real baseball people, they seemed shocked at how good Corey Kluber pitched last night. Some marveled at how his pitches moved and some even suggested he may not be able to replicate that performance.
Indians fans and real baseball analysts know otherwise. Of course there’s no guarantee that Kluber will be just as dominant again, particularly if he ends up pitching in Game 4 on short rest, but another lights out performance would not be surprising at all. Corey Kliber is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, and now casual baseball fans are starting to learn what we’ve known for several years. Kluber is a beast with nasty stuff that baffles both righties and lefties, and the Indians intend to ride his talent throughout this series.
Francisco Lindor also introduced himself to the Cubs and a national audience with a single and critical stolen base with two outs in the first inning. That led to Jon Lester imploding by giving up two walks and then two runs. That’s all Kulber would need.
Meanwhile, Andrew Miller looked mortal last night, but he came up with huge pitches when he needed them.
Game 1 was critical for the Tribe, and now they have a chance tonight to take command of this series. Let’s see if Trevor Bauer rises to the occasion.
The Indians haven’t lost yet in the postseason after taking a 2-0 game lead on the Blue Jays and sweeping the Boston Red Sox. Needless to say this has been an incredible ride.
Few of us could have predicted what we’re seeing after Carlos Carrasco was lost for the season with Danny Salazar already injured. Of course we all know how that led to Paul Hoynes writing off the Indians, only to get ripped not once but twice by Trevor Bauer on Twitter, with Hoynes finally admitting he was wrong after the Tribe swept the Red Sox.
The Indians are doing this with great pitching despite those injuries, with Cory Kluber living up to his role as staff ace and Andrew Miller redefining dominance out of the bullpen. They’re also getting timely hits from Francisco Lindor even as the offense has been held mostly in check by Toronto’s pitching staff.
This series is far from over, but this 2-0 start has been fun to watch.
Cory Kluber takes the mound tonight as the Cleveland Indians open the World Series against the Chicago Cubs. 2016 has been a bizarre years in so many ways, including a crazy election that’s driving most people to drink, but this year will always be cherished by Cleveland sports fans as the Cavs broke a 52-year championship drought for the city. Now, with the Cavs ready to open their new season tonight by raising their championship banner, we have the Indians trying to complete their improbable run to a Word Series title. Can you imagine two championship parades in one year?
This Indians-Cubs series could be epic, with both clubs trying to end long championship droughts. In any other year, the Indians would probably have the whole country behind them, but with the Cavs ending the city’s title drought and then drawing the Cubs as their opponent, the Indians find themselves as the underdog in the eyes of baseball experts and fans across the country.
But this Indians team doesn’t care about those things. They rolled through the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays despite losing two of their best starting pitchers and another starter to a freak drone accident, and now they’ll at least have Danny Salazar back to possibly start a game or provide help from the pen.
Still, the team isn’t at full strength, so tonight’s opening game with Cory Kluber on the mound will likely be critical. If Kluber can win his starts, the Indians have a great shot at shocking the world and extending the misery of Cubs fans. If Kluber loses, then the Indians will have to rely on Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin to rise to the occasion again and get to Andrew Miller and the rest of the bullpen.
This Cubs team is excellent, but the Indians can definitely win this series. Go Tribe!!
