Jose Ramirez appears to be nearing another extension with the Rangers to keep the third baseman in Cleveland through his age-39 season in 2032. Hector Gomez of Z101 Digital was the first to report on the deal and described it as complete, while Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote that Guards and Ramirez’s representatives are still in the new arrangements with Republik Sports.
Ramirez has three seasons and $69MM remaining on the seven-year extension he signed with Cleveland in April 2022. Gomez writes that the new extension will pay Ramirez $106MM more over the 2029-32 seasons, but there will be a restructuring of Ramirez’s salary. According to Heyman, the $175MM owed to Ramirez over the next seven seasons will now include $70MM in deferred revenue.
Assuming the extension is finalized, it should ensure that Ramirez stays in a Rangers uniform for the rest of his career, further cementing his place as a Cleveland baseball legend. Ramirez signed with the organization as an international free agent in 2009 at the age of 17, and went on to hit .279/.353/.504 with 285 home runs and 287 steals (in 349 chances) over 6759 plate appearances. Between his strong offense and his impressive glovework at third base, Ramirez has amassed 57.6 bWAR in his career – the fifth highest of any player in Indians/Guardians history.
Ramirez turned 33 last September but doesn’t seem to be slowing down, as he hit .283/.360/.503 with 30 homers and a career-best 44 steals over 673 PA. These big numbers and his leading role in the Guardians’ recent surge to the AL Central title helped Ramirez finish third in AL MVP voting. While the MVP trophy continues to elude Ramirez, he has now recorded a second-place finish (in 2020), three third-place finishes, and three other top-six finishes during his illustrious career.
Although Ramirez continues to deliver elite production, making $106MM for a player (especially in his 36-39 seasons) is not a small feat for a team that pays as little as guards. The new money included in Ramirez’s extension represents the third-highest guarantee Cleveland has ever given a player, just behind Ramirez’s previous extension and their seven-year, $106.5MM extension that has been traded since then. Andres Gimenez in 2023. That said, the $70MM cap hit would lower the current day price tag of the extension, and allow for some flexibility in the front office payroll.
This is the third extension Ramirez has signed with Cleveland, as his first multi-year deal with the team was a five-year, $26MM deal spanning the 2017-2021 seasons that included club options. Ramirez apparently made the most of his salary in that deal, and after exercising their 2022 option to retain Ramirez, the Rangers and the third baseman worked out a second extension that saw five years and $124MM in new money added to the new deal.
It was known that the Rangers explored trade conditions involving Ramirez ahead of that 2022 extension, as it has long been the organization’s practice to trade big-name players before free agency. While not all star deals have worked out, the Rangers have achieved enough in these trades to fill out their roster with young (and cheap) talent while avoiding the high price tags that come with players nearing the end of their arbitration control.
Ramirez is an exception to this rule. The seven-time All-Star has been vocal about how much he enjoys playing in Cleveland, and he’s backed up that stance by leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table for a point guard once, but now twice. Of course, it remains to be seen how much Ramirez will still produce at the end of the 2028 season, however this $106MM addition can be viewed as a thank you to the star player for his years of service, as well as an investment in the idea that Ramirez will continue to put up big numbers.
The timing of the extension is interesting, as there didn’t seem to be much of a rush to add more years to a deal that already expires in 2028. However, the Rangers may have wanted to do something before the next collective bargaining agreement, as rumors insist that the league (as part of their overall desire to limit the use of playing money) may at least consider some contract restrictions against some type of contract. The Dodgers have famously included a number of high-value contract extensions in recent years, or many teams in large and small markets have also pursued extensions, with Cleveland’s new deal with Ramirez serving as the latest recent example.
