Cleveland Indians: What is Jose Ramirez really worth to Tribe?
Jose Ramiez is worth this dollar amount to the Cleveland Indians.
Thankfully, the Cleveland Indians aren’t interested in trading Jose Ramirez. It always seemed crazy, but with the Tribe slashing payroll, it wouldn’t have been all that surprising.
One rumor had the Braves interested in Ramirez. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal confirmed that teams were interested in trading for him.
Rosenthal then shared a nugget (subscription) as to why he’d be so highly coveted. It’s well known that Ramirez has a team friendly deal, as the Tribe was able to lock him down to a five-year, $26 million extension following their trip to the 2016 World Series.
Ramirez’s salary was $6.25 million last season. The total value, based off his production was $27.2 million. The season only lasted 60 games, of course, so that salary extrapolated over 162 games would’ve been $73.4 million! Rosenthal gathered these numbers by using FanGraphs’ Dollars metric chart.
Even after a slow start in 2019, Ramirez, who made $3.75 million that season, had a value of $27.2 million. In 2018, when he finished third in MVP voting, He made $2.43 million but had a value of an astonishing $65.1 million.
Rosenthal noted how executives look at the surplus number to truly gauge value. Add it all up, and Ramirez has made $13.25 million between 2016-2020. His value was worth $209.4 million, making for a surplus of $195 million. Crazy.
Cleveland ownership loves a bargain, of course, but who doesn’t!? There’s no way they’re ever going to get that kind of deal, so yeah–Ramirez is staying put.
Really, the sign that J-Ram was safe came last week when the Indians signed Eddie Rosario. The Indians will be picked to finish behind the White Sox and Twins in the Central, but the Rosario pact signaled that the Tribe will be competitive for, at the least, a Wild Card berth.
Ramirez will make $9 million next season, and if his says anything, it’s that the Indians are going to get their money’s worth.
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Cleveland has two club options and can keep Ramirez through the 2023 season if they so choose. He’s due to earn $11 million in 2022 and $13 million in 2023. He’ll be 31 years old when he hits the open market, assuming the Indians keep picking up his options.