8:51 am: Cleveland has also been talking extensively about Ramirez trade scenarios for the past few days, Passan tweets. The Padres in particular believed they had a legitimate chance of acquiring him and there was an expectation that the Guardians would have moved Ramirez had a long-term agreement not been reached. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the Padres were actually trying “hard” to get Ramirez out of Cleveland.
8:24 a.m.: Jose Ramirez won’t go anywhere. The star infielder has agreed a new five-year extension with the Guardians, which will exercise his club option for 2023 and add another five seasons and $124 million to his contract. reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Ramirez’s contract now runs until 2028 and also includes a full no-trade clause that pretty much ensures he stays in Cleveland for the long haul.
The new deal is the largest in franchise history but is still seen as a club-friendly deal. Ramirez has emerged as one of the game’s elite players at a time when annual salaries well over $30 million have become commonplace, but the 29-year-old, who flipped the switch, has been “implacable” about his desire to to stay in Cleveland during the negotiations. tweets Zack Meisel from The Athletic. Ramirez was already expected to earn $12 million this year and next year’s option now exercised was worth $14 million, meaning he’s now guaranteed a total of $150 million over the next seven seasons.
There’s more to come.