On April 14, 2022 as the Cleveland Guardians were getting ready to begin their season, speculation was swirling that face of the franchise Jose Ramirez would be traded. The club was frantically trying to get a deal done, but it seemed unlikely, Ramirez was due for a contract worth in excess of $300 million.
He was coming off a top five MVP finish in four consecutive seasons, and multiple All Star, and silver sluggers. The problem was that Cleveland could not afford to keep him and had already moved on from all-world shortstop Francisco Lindor in 2020. Trading J-Ram would mean risking a complete coup de tat from the fanbase.
Then the impossible happened, the Guardians and Ramirez were able to agree on potentially the most team-friendly contract in the history of sports, inking him to a seven year $141-million-dollar contract extension that would keep him in Cleveland through 2028.
Since the signing of that contract, he has produced likely four more top 10 MVP finishes, two more silver sluggers, and four more All Star appearances. All while perhaps being the singular athlete in the history of professional sports (not born here, sorry LeBron) to choose to stay in Cleveland.
During the Guardians celebration for clinching the division he even declared, "I love Cleveland, Cleveland is my house." The latter quickly becoming a slogan that dotted trendy merchandise items all across the city following its decree.
This is what I am worried about. If the front office doesn’t make the splash this offseason it may be to late. The Goat will consider leaving.
— Luis (@LDiaz1624) October 6, 2025
Ramirez: things are going to change for the 2028 extension talks.
Ramirez: the General Manager didn’t do what we talked back then.… pic.twitter.com/VJmgBPdl4m
The biggest question is why this interview from six months ago was trending today, less than a week after the Guardians season ended.
The interview is in Spanish, and is from March of this year, but given context it appears Ramirez is upset with the team's recent playoff record. In the middle of the video states that it's not about the money but rather that he wants to win. Jose seems adamant that between now and 2028 he expects the front office to put a more competitive team on the field.
There are a number of issues with this however, including a weak free agent class this offseason and the potential of an impending lockout following the 2026 season.
Regardless, Ramirez is rightfully frustrated. He is on the wrong side of 30, and probably sick and tired of carrying the weight of an entire franchise. As a player, that has to be extremely exhausting, to know that day in and day out you are counted on to have any level of success.
The league is littered with examples of guys shouldering this responsibility, and sometimes it just gets to be too much. Baseball is not like basketball or football, one player can only have so much of an impact either positively or negatively.
Given the content and the timing of this message, it seems to be aimed directly at the offices of Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, and the message appears to be this: I did you a favor by taking this contract, now I have come to collect.
Ownership owes it to Jose Ramirez to put a World Series contending team around him while he is still a productive offensive player. For better or worse you do what you need to do to keep Ramirez happy, that is the kind of star power he has.
Time will tell how this front office will respond, however it would heartbreaking to see a player so beloved, who chose to stay, potentially driven away by an ownership's undesirable appetite for spending.
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