Cleveland Indians: Don’t wait, just give Jose Ramirez the AL MVP award

The MVP race in the AL goes through one of the Cleveland Indians’ stars.

Jose Ramirez has done it all for the Cleveland Indians. From playing third, second, and the outfield to batting all throughout the batting order, his impact has benefited the club greatly.

During the course of a 162 game season, the injury bug will hit, slumps will come and go, and the wear and tear of daily baseball are things seen throughout the season. With that in mind, struggles may come, but one constant always seems to be reliable and that is Ramirez.

Even when he struggles in his own right, Cleveland feeds off his energy. Ramirez may be down but he is a fighter and routines expresses persistence. Sure, the Indians would have been an extremely successful team in 2017 without Ramirez, but luckily they don’t have to worry about that scenario.

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Instead, Ramirez’s play has taken Cleveland’s overall play to another level. He is a key reason why the Tribe has won 100 games and is a favorite to get back to the World Series.

Outside of maybe Houston Astros’ second baseman Jose Altuve, there is not another player that means so much to a team in MLB. Both infielders are the engines that keep their respective teams going.

That said, Houston will be a tough out in the playoffs, but without Ramirez I am not as confident that Cleveland would be a favorite in the AL just because he does so much! Both Altuve and Ramirez has a case for the AL MVP award, but does Altuve off of Houston’s roster really impact their chances? Yes, but not as much as Ramirez given his prior experience being a Swiss army knife has adjusted in a good way what he brings to the table daily.

I wouldn’t be surprise if Ramirez doesn’t win the award. Instead, more frustration than anything would be expressed. I understand why people like other options, but no one can or should ignore the Indians’ star.

Coming into Friday’s game, Ramirez had a 6.4 WAR to go along with a .314 batting average, 29 home runs, 81 RBI, 53 doubles, and an OPS  of .944. During Friday’s game, J-Ram increased his double total to 54.

Ramirez is the complete package and he is barely costing Cleveland anything. According to baseball-reference.com, Ramirez is making $971,400 for 2017.

MLB.com‘s announced that Ramirez is in some very good team company when it comes to doubles. Any time you hear someone being mentioned in the same discussion as George Burns and Tris Speaker you know that person is doing something right. In Ramirez’s case, he’s doing everything right for the Indians.

Unfortunately, we all have to wait for the season to end before the results are announced for the AL MVP. I expect a pretty tight race between Altuve and Ramirez. Hopefully though, Ramirez does enough for the voters outside of Ohio and the midwest to achieve that award.

Next: Alomar a fit with the Mets?

Although winning that MVP would be nice, Ramirez and his teammates have their sights set on a bigger prize. Maybe, just maybe both goals are met this season!