The Cleveland Guardians have extended their star third baseman Jose Ramirez for five years and $124 million.
The slugger is now locked up through 2028, his age 35 season, but thus far, the Guardians haven’t really done much of anything to try and build around him.
It’s good that they were able to keep their superstar around, but as of now, the Guardians don’t really have much of a supporting cast around Ramirez.
MLB.com reporter Anthony Castrovince pointed this out on Twitter, saying that it was a good move to keep Ramirez around, but also correctly pointing out that they haven’t really done much to help him win.
If the Guardians were to add some pieces, then it would make the Ramirez extension much more worthwhile.
It is absolutely wonderful that the Guardians have locked up 29-year-old star José Ramírez, and it is simultaneously puzzling that the Guardians have not done more to raise the floor of their supporting cast for 29-year-old star José Ramírez.
— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) April 6, 2022
Will Cleveland Build Around J-Ram?
This is the piece you want to build around if you’re the Guardians.
At least in the case of Juan Soto and the Washington Nationals, they went out and added Nelson Cruz, bringing in a powerful bat that can protect Soto in the lineup and potentially give him a reason to want to stay in Washington.
But we’re not really seeing that with the Guardians.
On paper, the Guardians are not a bad team, but they don’t seem to have much of a shot at competing with the Chicago White Sox for AL Central supremacy.
They finished 13 games behind Chicago in the division race last year, falling short of the postseason.
We’ll see if the Guardians get the message and do more to help Ramirez chase a title in Cleveland.
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