José Ramírez is not going anywhere any time soon.
The Guardians and Ramirez have agreed to a five-year, $124 million extension, sources told MLB.com Wednesday morning. The deal also includes a full no-trade clause. The club has not confirmed the news.
This is unprecedented territory for Cleveland, as the club has never handed over a contract bigger than Edwin Encarnacion’s three-year, $60 million deal.
The team knew there would be a lot of talk with the All-Star third baseman during spring training, since they were unable to negotiate with him over the winter. The hope was that an agreement could be reached before opening day, and it seems that the mission was accomplished.
The Guardians have insisted since the start of camp that trading Ramirez wasn’t on their to-do list. Though they didn’t make many offseason additions to their current roster and are now following a fine line of rebuilding, they clearly still wanted to secure the fan-favorite switch hitter beyond his last two years of team control.
Ramirez is now set to hit free agency after the 2028 season, which means seven more years of hitting home runs and flying helmets while running the bases. It’s no secret why the team wanted to keep it in Northeast Ohio.
Since arriving in 2013 and considered simply a utility man early in his career, Ramirez has become one of the best players in the Major Leagues. In the past five years, he has finished in the top six in AL MVP voting four times (three of which were in the top three). In that span, he brought home three silver bats and was also named to three All-Star Games, all while being the heartbeat of the Cleveland lineup year after year.