Would Cleveland Trade Jose Ramirez?

[Fear The Chorizo]

I'll start with the obvious caveat that Cleveland plays in the equally awful AL Central, and despite being 1 game under 0.500 sit just 1.5 games out of 1st place in that division.  One would think they could be buyers this deadline - however they've got key pitching injuries that aren't going to be sorted out until after Aug 1, making them a team that will likely either stand pat or look for minor bullpen/hitting upgrades to try and eek out a playoff berth that likely winds up going nowhere in the postseason.

That being said, there are the annual trade rumors about Jose Ramirez, the switch-hitting 3B/DH who puts up a mid- to upper-800s OPS in his sleep.  He signed a 7 yr extension last year I believe (that also includes a NTC), but the remaining 5 years on that deal aren't awful for a guy who can flat out hit and still play a solid 3rd base before transitioning to an everyday DH as he gets into his mid 30s late in the contract.  Don't get me wrong, he'd cost a ton in prospect capital to acquire right now and his contract would take up a sizeable amount of team payroll for the next 5 seasons....but if the Brewers are serious about making a significant roster/offensive upgrade for longer than a rental to dramatically improve the lineup, I'd make sure Cleveland has absolutely zero interest in trading Ramirez - at this deadline or this offseason.  It would also take Ramirez waiving the NTC, but he may view Milwaukee as a similar market to Cleveland and prefer playing in those type of environments.

What would a trade package from the Brewers need to look like for Cleveland to make this trade right now?  Start with Black, Misiorowski, and one of the advanced Brewer outfield prospects/young players (Frelick, Mitchell) and add what more?  I know it's likely a pipe dream and it would be an incredibly steep price in terms of prospect capital - but I feel like this is the caliber of player the Brewers need to go after via trade if they want to make a difference in postseason aspirations with the time they have left before Burnes/Woodruff find more lucrative pastures a couple offseasons from now.  

There's a history between these two teams making splashy deadline deals (or near deadline deals), it's a pipe dream but this is the time of year to dream big! 

 

[nate82]

[jay87shot]

Maybe in a couple years, Ramirez did Cleveland a solid with his contract. If they trade him they would lose a crazy amount of fan support.

[RWeeksFan23]

The Indians fan who posts here will certainly be coming in to say there's no chance of this happening.

[MadThinker88]

There is no chance of a trade.

Jose insisted on a full complete NO TRADE CLAUSE in the extension he signed before last season.

Whatever CLE does going forward, its building its team around Jose Ramirez..

[Scooterfletcher]

Fyi mad thinker is a massive Indians fan and I’d expect him to say a zero chance even if a 20 percent chance exists.

[Fear The Chorizo]

20 hours ago, MadThinker88 said:

There is no chance of a trade.

Jose insisted on a full complete NO TRADE CLAUSE in the extension he signed before last season.

Whatever CLE does going forward, its building its team around Jose Ramirez..

Plenty of players with a NTC get dealt - Ramirez likely wanted it so he wouldn't ever get shipped to a city/team he wouldn't want to play in because he was constantly in trade rumors before that extension.  I'm not saying it's happening this offseason, but it will happen before that contract ends if CLE finds itself needing a rebuild and Ramirez wants to go after a title, particularly if the team/city he'd be going to resembles the environment he's played his whole career in to date.

I started this thread because he's the ideal player at the ideal position the Brewers could acquire and instantly be considered a world series threat if their pitching depth in the rotation gets healthy. If they make moves at this year's deadline i want them to make a splash, because they're going to incrementally improve just by getting guys like woodruff and ashby back healthy shortly after the deadline (hopefully).

 

 

[MadThinker88]

14 hours ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Plenty of players with a NTC get dealt - Ramirez likely wanted it so he wouldn't ever get shipped to a city/team he wouldn't want to play in because he was constantly in trade rumors before that extension.  I'm not saying it's happening this offseason, but it will happen before that contract ends if CLE finds itself needing a rebuild and Ramirez wants to go after a title, particularly if the team/city he'd be going to resembles the environment he's played his whole career in to date.

I started this thread because he's the ideal player at the ideal position the Brewers could acquire and instantly be considered a world series threat if their pitching depth in the rotation gets healthy. If they make moves at this year's deadline i want them to make a splash, because they're going to incrementally improve just by getting guys like woodruff and ashby back healthy shortly after the deadline (hopefully).

 

 

You flipping between timing of a deal.

You started your 1st post and ended your last post focusing on the now.  Weak AL Central.  CLE under .500. Looking for the Crew to make a splash and be instant WS threat.  JRam would be a great fit and has exactly what the Crew needs.

In the middle you note how plenty of players with NTC get dealt and if CLE needs a rebuild in the future JRam might want to get dealt. 

Well JRam has not requested a trade.  In his signing of an extension he left anywhere from 80M to 100M on the table & it encouraged others (Clase, Straw at start of 2022 & Gimenez at start of 2023) to sign multi year extensions.  So others feels he is sticking in CLE. 

You suggested if there was a rebuild during his current contract (which runs 5 more years after this season) might trigger a trade request.  I don't see that as a possibility as CLE is doing a reload on the fly. 

Last year 16 players made their MLB debut as CLE won the AL Central with the youngest team in baseball.  This year another 6 players have already made their debut.  The entire starting rotation for CLE from the beginning of spring training has either fallen apart (Plesac) or spent time or is currently on the injured list (Beiber, McKenzie, Civale, Quantril).   In their place 3 of the young guns have stepped up (LT Allen, Bibee, Williams).  I fail to see where a rebuild would be taking place in that 5 year time frame.

I'll make you a deal: If JRam gets dealt (to any team) during his current contract, I will stop posting on this site. I will be gone.  If he does not get dealt during this current contract, you write me an apology,

 

[Fear The Chorizo]

If you look at Cleveland's current payroll and what it would need to be in order to retain just 1/2 of all the homegrown talent recently brought up onto the roster, you'd understand why they will likely need to do some sort of rebuild/retooling between now and 2028ish.  When that time comes, I have my doubts Ramirez stays put so they can trade away younger talent, or just let it walk via free agency.

I'll make you a deal: If JRam gets dealt (to any team) during his current contract, I will stop posting on this site. I will be gone.  If he does not get dealt during this current contract, you write me an apology,

Lol, I'll get my apology out of the way right now so there's no worry for me to forget - I'm sorry me posting about a player on the team you root for on a different team's internet message board tied directly to "transaction rumors/proposals" has you so wound up.

And trust me, I and probably everyone else on this board won't hold you to your end of the bargain after Ramirez does get traded sometime over the next 5 seasons.