CLEVELAND, Ohio – Sparked by the desire of Jose Ramirez to stay in Cleveland, a deal that seemed dead was revived by a phone call from Rafe Nieves.
Ramirez definitely wanted to stay in Cleveland. He knew other teams were opening serious trade talks with the Guardians. Nieves is Ramirez’s agent, and he knew what his client wanted – find a deal fair for both sides to remain with the Guardians.
The big decision was both sides’ agreement to add five years to the current two seasons left on the contract for the All-Star third baseman. The Guardians were not about to do one of those 10- to 12-year contracts given to some stars such as Francisco Lindor ($341 million for 10 years with the Mets).
Ramirez understood that.
“Jose was truly committed to wanting to stay in Cleveland,” said owner Paul Dolan.
That inspired Dolan to push team President Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff to find a way to do the extension but not wreck the payroll years later.
“Let’s give him a big raise now,” was the decision made by the Guardians. With Ramirez set to earn $12 million this season, how about $22 million?
That caught the attention of Ramirez and Nieves. They settled on a contract for seven years. Another huge piece was the full “no-trade clause,” honoring the desire of Ramirez to stay in Cleveland.
“We wanted to keep Jose here,” said Antonetti, “but do it in a way that we could have a high caliber of team around him.”
Ramirez appreciated that. As Dolan mentioned, the team has had long-term contract negotiations with other players who said they wanted to stay in Cleveland, but there was little common ground.
“From time to time, we’ve tried to keep players and put good offers on the table,” Dolan told me. “I don’t begrudge players for wanting full market value like they’d get in a big market. But we can’t do that here.”
WHY IT WORKED
Ramirez was different. The two sides had a firm opening day deadline in mind and it pushed them both to reach common ground.
“Chris (Antonetti) and Mike (Chernoff) were in Arizona talking with Jose,” said Dolan. “I was home. I talked to Jose on the phone. I could tell he was sincere.”
Dolan wanted to make one strong run at keeping Ramirez, and it worked.
According to MLB sources, the new deal breaks down like this:
- 2022: $22 million
- 2023: $14 million
- 2024: $17 million
- 2025: $19 million
- 2026: $21 million
- 2027: $23 million
- 2028: $25 million
That’s $141 million over seven years. It ends when Ramirez is 36 and still can be a very productive player. If that’s the case, he can go for another contract. The no-trade clause prevents him from being sent to an unwanted location.
“We’ve never done it before, but this is a unique situation,” said Dolan. “The deal was driven by Jose’s desire to play in Cleveland. We wanted to honor that.”
THE OWNERSHIP UPDATE
Some fans have speculated the Ramirez deal was done because the team is on the verge of adding David Blitzer as a minority owner. I’ve heard otherwise. Blitzer and Dolan are still talking, but they are not close to a deal. This takes a lot of time.
That was the case with John Sherman when he became a minority owner in 2016. Dolan and Sherman talked for a year before Sherman bought 10%. That increased to 25%. Dolan then bought back 10% when Sherman left the franchise to purchase the Kansas City Royals. The remaining 15% is in escrow.
My guess is if a deal is reached with Blitzer, it will begin with the 15% originally owned by Sherman. The Dolans plan to be a part of the franchise ownership for a long time.
But this day belonged to Jose Ramirez and the Cleveland Guardians.
“This is by far the biggest deal we’ve ever done,” said Dolan. “It’s a special feeling for it to be on opening day with our new name and a player like Jose. He deserves a lot of credit for making it happen.”
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