Only a month has passed since the Cleveland Guardians signed their franchise player, third baseman Jose Ramirez, to a seven-year, $141 million contract extension that will keep him in Cleveland through the 2028 season.
The deal appears to be working out just fine thus far.
The 29-year-old slugger is already hitting .341 with seven homers, 28 RBIs, and a 1.128 OPS in his first 82 at-bats of the 2022 season.
He also took home American League Player of the Month honors for April.
Ramirez knows that he was retained by the Guardians at less than what he expected his market value to be, but ultimately chose to stay in Cleveland, even saying that he wants to play out the rest of his career as a member of the Guardians.
José Ramirez: "I got to a point where I had to decide between the option of being traded or signing the extension. I finally decided to stay in Cleveland, even though I'm aware that my market value is greater than what they offered me. I want to finish my career in Cleveland."
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) May 2, 2022
J-Ram Repping Cleveland
Though Ramirez clearly wanted more, it ultimately became more important to him to stay with the Guardians.
Nobody else in baseball is repping Cleveland this hard, but that’s okay with Ramirez.
He loves playing in Cleveland and suiting up for the Guardians day in and day out.
Most players want to see what the best deal they can get is, and nobody can blame them for that.
But Ramirez exhibited an admirable trait during the process of working out the extension: loyalty.
The Guardians are the team that drafted and developed Ramirez and turned him into a superstar and perennial MVP candidate.
Ramirez knows that and appreciates it.
He enjoys repping the city of Cleveland and doesn’t want any of that to change.
The Guardians are a team in transition, but with Ramirez locked up long-term, they have a piece that they can build around if they ever try to contend.
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