Guardians: Jose Ramirez proves his value in AL MVP Voting

The AL MVP voting proved how good Jose Ramirez actually is for the Guardians.

For any regular reading this, no one is going to be surprised by a declaration involving Jose Ramirez and how good he is. I consider him to be the best third basemen in the league, at least offensively, and a top-three player in the AL all-around. He’s very good and the only player I’d consider paying $25-$30 million a year for; as long as it’s a three or four-year contract at best. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Ramirez finished sixth in the AL MVP race, despite being on a Guardians’ team that finished 80-82.

Ramirez finished just behind Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Astros shortstop Carlos Correra, with 133 total points. Judge, who came in fourth, had 177 total points, and Correra, who finished fifth, had 163 total points.

It wasn’t a close race other than that, with Shohei Ohtani earning all 30 first-place votes, and taking home all 420 total points that come with it, but the fact Ramirez is so close to so much of the pack should give fans optimism. He’s clearly been that good, as he’s finished in the Top 6 in AL MVP voting four of the last five years. Two of those years he probably should’ve won it.

Ramirez should get an extension this off-season, once the collective bargaining agreement is finalized. Many are pressuring for a better revenue sharing system and a salary floor, and if that happens, The Guardians may in fact lock up their potential Hall of Famer.

Jose Ramirez did what Cal Quantrill couldn’t

While Ramirez’s finish in the AL MVP race may be the best thing to come out of this post-season crop of awards, there was hope that Cal Quantrill would finish fairly high in the AL Cy Young awards as well. Unfortunately, the Guardians were not well represented.

Quantrill, despite putting together a pretty good year, was left off the voting entirely for the Cy Young Award race. Perhaps it was a perception issue, with him coming out of the bullpen to become a starter midway through the season. Even if that’s the case, he should’ve been properly evaluated for both being a top-end reliever and a front-line starter, as he was arguably the Guardians best reliever not named Emmanuel Clase (and one could argue he was more reliable than Clase too), and was the best starting pitcher the Guardians had post-Shane Bieber’s injury.

The team needs to tweak a few things but the team is looking good for 2021.