The Cleveland Guardians have signed Third Basemen Jose Ramirez to a 5-year, $124M extension

The Cleveland Guardians have signed Third Basemen Jose Ramirez to a 5-year, $124M extension by Kevin McAndrews.

Star third baseman José Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians are in agreement on a five-year, $124M contract extension, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN. Ramirez has said openly that he wanted to stay in Cleveland and play for the Guardians. Jose  is a 3x All-Star and 3x Silver Slugger, who’s finished among the top-6 in MVP voting in four of the last five seasons, coming off a .266/.355/.538 (137 wRC+); 36 HRs, and 6.3 WAR campaign in 2021.

The Deal includes full no-trade clause. With this year and pickup of a 2023 option, Ramirez is guaranteed $150M. The Guardians have been reportedly deep into conversations with teams in recent days about a José Ramirez trade.  My initial expectation was that if the sides didn’t come to terms on a long-term extension, he was going to be traded. The Padres thought they had a real shot at landing Ramirez as reported.

The Cleveland Guardians previously had $0 committed to players beyond the 2022 MLB season. The Guardians now have their best player locked up and a very, very good group of prospects coming. Now the Guardians will look to continue building around him, because Ramírez is a fantastic home grown player. He deserves a winner. The deal appears to be a step in the right direction to building a solid ball club that will compete The AL Central is shaping up to be a fascinating division in the coming years and I for one am glad that Jose Ramirez will be a part of a Cleveland sports team that will make an “October to remember” run that results in winning their first World Series since 1948. Go Guardians!

Kevin McAndrews

Kevin McAndrews is a Sports Journalist and Writer for NEO Sports Insiders. Graduated from Bay High School in 2010. 2009 WSC Championship team 1st team all WSC and 3rd team All Ohio at Left Guard. He has spent over 10 years in the Cleveland media covering sports with experience in radio, television, podcasting and digital media. He has covered high school football, college football, Cleveland Guardians, Browns & Cavaliers. The Akron Zips, Columbus Crew, Cleveland SC and Ohio State Buckeyes. Graduated from University of Akron in 2017 with duel degrees in Sports Management and Business (BBA). Follow Kevin McAndrews @BigKevinSports