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New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
Somehow, Guardians star José Ramírez remains MLB's best-kept secret
NEW YORK — The last time the Cleveland Guardians visited Yankee Stadium, during the ALCS in October, the customary José Ramírez prompt surfaced in a press conference with New York manager Aaron Boone. Why is Cleveland's six-time All-Star third baseman so underrated? Boone dismissed the notion altogether, saying the suggestion that Ramírez isn't appreciated made him 'want to rip my arms off and throw (them) at the TV.' Advertisement There's at least something to it, though. Ramírez hides from the spotlight in Cleveland. He puts up sparkling numbers, but he hasn't won an MVP award, delivered a signature postseason moment or set a bunch of records, like behemoths Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani. No matter the reason, even after six All-Star Game nods and six top-six MVP finishes, he's routinely mentioned as one of the sport's underrated stars. For years, Ramírez has shrugged off the idea. He's never craved attention. 'He's one of the best, and we think, in here (the clubhouse), the best in the league,' said teammate David Fry. 'I think it's the fact that he doesn't talk a whole lot and we're not a big market. If he were a Yankee, he'd probably be talked about 24/7 on TV. But because he's in Cleveland and doesn't want the spotlight, it doesn't get talked about as much.' For anyone unfamiliar with how Ramírez became an unheralded star — or for anyone itching for a reminder — here's a primer on baseball's best-kept secret: Ramírez will spend most or all of his career in Cleveland, a David in a land of big-market Goliaths. No New York or Los Angeles circus, no mind-bending contract figures, no commercials or ad campaigns. No attention, which fuels the persistent chatter about him flying under the radar. He did once have his own salsa brand, plus a medium-roast coffee blend (with notes of cocoa and hints of nuts and citrus). Ramírez only ever cared about being noticed when he ran amok on donkey-filled baseball diamonds in the Dominican Republic, with scouts fixated on everyone else, not the runt of the teenage prospect corps. Ramón Peña discovered him in 2009 — almost by accident. Peña coveted catcher Jorge Alfaro, but he became enamored with the 140-pound slap hitter. Even with flashy batting averages and stolen-base totals, Ramírez was never considered a can't-miss prospect in the minor leagues. He was usually the smallest guy on the field, which led Cleveland's evaluators to forecast him as the successor to utility man Mike Aviles. Instead, he's tracking to carve out space between Tim Raines and Pee Wee Reese in the Baseball Hall of Fame directory. And in Cleveland, for a franchise that dates to 1901, he could wind up on the Mount Rushmore of performers, in large part because of his longevity with the club, a rarity for a franchise that tends to ship out stars before they achieve generational wealth. Advertisement Ramírez woke up on the final day of spring training in 2022 and directed his agent to end several weeks of choppy negotiations with the Guardians' front office and strike a deal. The Guardians were prepared to trade him to the San Diego Padres or Toronto Blue Jays if they couldn't agree to terms that afternoon. The team had split-squad duties in Arizona, so the necessary parties were spread across the valley — and the country. General manager Mike Chernoff was flying back to Cleveland. Ramírez finished a five-inning assignment at Chase Field, and convened with president Chris Antonetti and assistant GM Matt Forman in the manager's office to exchange final offers. Agustín Rivero, the team interpreter and Ramírez's lifeline, left his post as first-base coach in Scottsdale and, in his navy uniform, hailed a Lyft to Chase Field. Owner Paul Dolan, in Cleveland, and agent Rafa Nieves, in California, joined on the phone. Chernoff landed in Cleveland and convinced his Uber driver to keep private the franchise-altering conversation he was about to overhear. 'Five stars and an extra tip,' Chernoff said. With everyone present in one form and one time zone or another, they hammered out the details, which guaranteed Ramírez $141 million over seven seasons, plus a no-trade clause. They sped through the process so DeMarlo Hale, the manager that day at Chase Field, could shower and change in his office, the most inconceivable negotiating room imaginable. Ramírez is tethered to Cleveland through the 2028 season, when he'll be 36 years old — 19 years after he signed with the franchise. 'So many guys in this game are about building their brand,' Fry said. 'He just wants to win.' Ramírez's 13th big-league season is tracking to be one of his most prolific. He is batting a career-best .330 with a .939 OPS. He has exhibited no signs of slowing down, even at 32. He snapped a 21-game hitting streak, his longest as a big-leaguer, on Friday, but he has since rattled off three consecutive multi-hit games. He's on pace for 30 homers, 36 doubles and 44 stolen bases. Advertisement After a couple of rocky seasons at the plate, Ramírez blossomed in 2016, with a .312 average, 46 doubles and 22 stolen bases. The following season, he added power to his repertoire, as he totaled 91 extra-base hits, including 29 homers. The year after that, he drew 106 walks, racked up 81 extra-base hits (with 39 homers) and swiped 34 bases. Those gaudy totals have since become the standard, not the surprise. He has two third-place finishes in the MVP balloting and one second-place finish since the start of 2017. Ramírez is adept at yanking fastballs into the outfield seats, and pitchers often find themselves without a choice but to challenge him with precisely the pitch he craves, because he refuses to chase or whiff at anything else. That's how a guy who gives up eight inches and about 60 pounds to Jim Thome could threaten Thome's franchise home run record (337) as soon as the 2027 season. 'When he's struggling, he's hitting, like, .250, .260, which, for everybody else is a great year,' Fry said. 'And then he has a switch where he's like, 'I'm going to go be the best player in the world. I'm just going to steal every base. Now I'm going to hit doubles and homers.' He's incredible.' José Ramírez blasts his 10th home run of the year, giving him his 10th straight season with 10+ homers 💪 — MLB (@MLB) May 31, 2025 In the summer of 2015, Ramírez was demoted to Triple-A Columbus, where Rouglas Odor served as both the hitting coach and first-base coach. Ramírez reached first one day and was nearly picked off by a right-handed pitcher. He stood up, brushed the dirt off his jersey and took an even larger lead off the bag. 'I'm like, 'What are you doing?'' Odor recalled. Then, Ramírez stole second. The close call, Ramírez later told Odor, only motivated him more to swipe second base. Advertisement 'I thought, 'Man, this kid is special,'' Odor said. Through the years, Ramírez has consistently registered above-average sprint speed, but nothing that would suggest he's a threat to steal 30-plus bases. 'It's his intelligence,' Odor said. Ramírez routinely ranks at or near the top of the leaderboard for FanGraphs' base running metric. Even at the age of 31 last year, he piled up a career-high 41 steals. He's always searching for a way to gain an extra 90 feet, either when an outfielder takes a circuitous route to a single or when an infielder leaves a base unattended or, simply, whenever he pleases. 'He hustles every day,' said Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee. 'He doesn't dog it down the line. He's looking for an extra 90 feet at all times. And he brings the best out of everyone else. There's a reason everyone respects him. I hope he knows that. But everyone in here respects him so much, because of all that.' In late May, Ramírez stood on third base with one out and the Guardians trailing the Tigers by one in the eighth inning. Odor, now the Guardians' third-base coach, told him that on any hard-hit grounder, he would stand no chance to score, so he needed to get caught in a rundown so the club still had a scoring threat. Angel Martínez socked a grounder to first base, where Spencer Torkelson charged and threw home. Ramírez never hesitated, dashing down the line 'before contact,' Odor said. A nifty plunge into the plate evened the score. 'There are just very few people in the game who score on that ball,' said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. 'The jump he gets, the slide, you name it. He's one of the best baserunners, if not the best baserunner, in baseball.' Ramírez fell one homer short of a 40/40 season last year, and he would have been the second player ever (along with Alfonso Soriano) with 40 homers, 40 steals and 40 doubles in a season. The storyline was buried beneath coverage of Ohtani's pursuit of 50/50, and Ramírez officially missed the milestone when rain washed away the Guardians' regular season finale. Advertisement Ramírez claimed he didn't care too much about the statistical feat, but he admitted in March that he used it as motivation to trim fat and add muscle over the winter. He has joked at times about aiming for a 50/50 season, or an 80/80 season or, even, a 100/100 season, and with his dry sense of humor, it can be difficult to decipher what he actually deems attainable, especially since he followed up his 80/80 proclamation with, 'Nothing's impossible.' He needs 34 homers and 41 steals to become the ninth player in league history with 300 of each. He needs 84 homers and 91 steals to join Barry Bonds as the only players with 350 of each. No one would have predicted such an ascent. And, as Judge and Ohtani ambush the record books and, understandably, hog the headlines, many are still learning how a stocky, long-overlooked, 5-foot-8 infielder has charted a path that could lead to Cooperstown. 'It's the beauty of baseball,' Vogt said. 'It doesn't matter what size you are, what you look like, where you're from. If you can hit, you can hit. If you can field, you can field. If you can pitch, you can pitch. That's the beauty of baseball. Size does give you some advantage sometimes, but it's all about the skill, the art. And José just continues to amaze me every single day, getting to watch him play. He's right up there with (Judge and Ohtani).'
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Guardians takeaways: Shane Bieber's return, José Ramírez's numbers, Julio Franco's timelessness
CLEVELAND — The clock has started. Barring any setbacks, Shane Bieber could rejoin the Cleveland Guardians at the end of June. Bieber made his first minor-league rehab start Saturday for the organization's Arizona Complex League team. His outing aired on just about every TV in the Guardians' clubhouse and coaching areas. The guy on the mound looked familiar. Bieber struck out five, didn't walk a batter and allowed one hit in 2 1/3 innings. His fastball registered 92-94 mph, and the changeup he's tinkered with for years had more depth than usual. Advertisement Bieber's rehab assignment can last up to 30 days, which means if all goes well, the Guardians could activate him in about four weeks, give or take a few days. He'll make his next start Thursday for Double-A Akron, with a target of three innings or 50 pitches. Reliever Erik Sabrowski, recovering from elbow inflammation, will join him. Designated hitter David Fry, who returned from Tommy John surgery over the weekend, spent time catching Bieber in Arizona this spring. After each pitch, Fry, who is working through a throwing program, placed the baseball in a machine that sent it back to Bieber. 'He'd throw 25 pitches and miss one spot, and he was like, 'I'm all over the place today,'' Fry said. 'I'm like, 'No, you're pretty good, dude.'' Cleveland's rotation is trending in the right direction. Guardians starters posted a 4.84 ERA in March/April and a 3.60 ERA in May. Bieber, though, could give the group a jolt. Last summer, Matthew Boyd returned from elbow surgery to supply the Guardians with eight stellar starts (2.72 ERA), plus three sterling efforts in the postseason. Bieber could have enough time remaining on the schedule to make 15 starts or so in the regular season. The Guardians are paying him $10 million this year, and Bieber can opt for a $4 million buyout or a $16 million deal for next season. Speaking of starting pitchers rehabbing in Arizona, Triston McKenzie, uh, did not fare as well in his Complex League debut. Here's how his outing unfolded: hit-by-pitch, strikeout, walk, wild pitch, walk, run-scoring walk, strikeout, strikeout, home run, groundout, walk. The prospect who hit the home run was born in 2006. It probably goes without saying, given McKenzie's fall from trendy Cy Young Award candidate to throwing on back fields three time zones away from Progressive Field, but those in the organization have significant concerns about his road back. He has four months to unlock whatever's preventing him from consistently attacking the strike zone. Advertisement As things stand, McKenzie can become a minor-league free agent at the end of the year. He won't be eligible for another round of arbitration unless he's added back to the major-league roster. This might as well be a regular bit. There have been 28 hitting streaks in franchise history that lasted longer than the 21-game streak José Ramírez snapped over the weekend. Only 17 of those 28 have taken place in the last century. In the last 50 years, only seven Cleveland hitting streaks have lasted longer: 30: Sandy Alomar, 1997 26: Casey Blake, 2007 24: Matt Williams, 1997 23: Mike Hargrove, 1980 22: Michael Brantley, 2012 22: Marty Cordova, 2001 22: Julio Franco, 1988 Three others matched Ramírez's 21-gamer: Franco again in 1988, Joe Carter in 1986 and Albert Belle in 1996. Ramírez joined Earl Averill as the only players in team history to record a double-digit home run total in 10 consecutive seasons. His 1.085 OPS in May was the sixth highest in any month for a Cleveland hitter since 2000, behind Manny Ramirez (September/October 2000), Jason Kipnis (May 2015 and June 2013), Francisco Lindor (May 2018) and Grady Sizemore (June 2005). Ramírez posted a .386/.451/.634 slash line in May, with five homers, eight doubles, eight stolen bases, 11 walks and 11 strikeouts. His month culminated in the Los Angeles Angels' twice intentionally walking him in the first three innings Saturday. 'You saw what happened when they didn't intentionally walk him,' pitcher Slade Cecconi said. 'Almost a homer, a homer and a screamer up the middle. Nobody wants to face that guy.' The calendar flipped to June on Sunday, and Ramírez kept humming along as he tacked on a single and a homer. How lucky we are to be alive while José Ramírez is playing baseball.#GuardsBall — Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 1, 2025 Here's where he's stood on June 2 each of the last five years: 2025: .327 average, .939 OPS 2024: .276 average, .885 OPS 2023: .277 average, .807 OPS 2022: .292 average, 1.025 OPS 2021: .258 average, .882 OPS Carlos Santana, another veteran out to prove he isn't slowing down, logged a .316/.450/.544 slash line in May, with five homers, 19 walks and 16 strikeouts. Advertisement 'He's a very old man,' Ramírez said through team interpreter Agustín Rivero. 'He's my brother. … He's the hardest worker out there.' A sight to behold: 66-year-old Julio Franco offering hitting instruction to Jhonkensy Noel and Angel Martínez in the Guardians' dugout Saturday afternoon. Martínez was born in January 2002, when Franco was 43 years old — and when Franco still had six big-league seasons remaining. Noel, listening intently, sat beside Franco and Carlos Baerga on the bench. Martínez briefly left the conference to retrieve a bat so Franco could demonstrate some tips. At one point, the two longtime big leaguers stood up, and Franco shifted Baerga's hands and arms as if the former second baseman were a robot built for hitting demonstrations. Franco and Baerga were teammates on the 1996 Cleveland team. Guardians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. said Franco helped him in the batting cages daily in 1997. 'He would not let you get down,' Alomar said. ''You have to do this every day.' He was good with routines. He was a great hitter. He was one of my favorite teammates.' Franco debuted in the majors April 23, 1982, and played his final big-league game Sept. 17, 2007, when he was 49 years old. In his debut, he hit a few spots behind 41-year-old Pete Rose in the Philadelphia Phillies' lineup. In his final game, he opposed a 24-year-old wunderkind named Miguel Cabrera. Even in his mid-40s with the Atlanta Braves in the 2000s, Franco reached base at a high clip and posted an OPS near or above .800 in a part-time role. Nolan Jones had multiple hits in five of his first 49 games this season. He's had multiple hits in three of his last four. In his last 16 games, he's hitting .333 (16-for-48). The key? A less-is-more approach. All but one of those 16 hits have been singles. He's lining pitches back up the middle instead of trying to rescue his reeling stats with a barrage of home runs. Advertisement For nearly two months, coaches have assured Jones the hits would eventually fall. His metrics — exit velocity, hard-hit rate, chase rate — suggested better days are ahead, but that can be difficult to trust. 'Impossible,' in fact, as Jones said Sunday afternoon. Jones would return home after each game, study video of his swing mechanics and take pretend swings in the mirror. That's not a practice he employs when he's performing well, and eventually, his fiancee told him it was becoming a 'terrible' habit. About a week ago, Jones quit the routine. He stopped watching video at home and examining his motion in the mirror. And instead of trying to convert glitzy metrics into gaudy stats, he focused on hitting line drives up the middle in the batting cage. He's 8-for-14 in his last four games (and he probably should have had another hit Sunday, but the official scorer charged the defender with an error). 'Sometimes, the best answer might be simplifying,' he said. (Top photo of Shane Bieber in 2023 start for Akron: Jeff Lange / Imagn Images)
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Guardians activate postseason hero from injured list
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WKBN) – The Cleveland Guardians activated utility man David Fry from the 60-day injured list on Saturday afternoon. In a corresponding roster move, the Guardians have placed outfielder Lane Thomas on the ten-day injured list. To make room on the 40-man roster, pitcher Cody Bolton was designated for assignment. Fry has missed the entire season to this point after undergoing offseason elbow surgery. He has split the 2025 season at three different levels in the Guardians minor league system in the Arizona Complex League, Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. During his rehab assignment, Fry has posted a combined average of .103, with one home run and five RBI with the Columbus Clippers. Last season, Fry posted a batting average of .263, with 14 home runs and 51 RBI. That includes the game-winning two-run home run in Game 3 of the American League Championship series against the New York Yankees. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
10-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Players like Mookie Betts add roster flexibility and impact draft strategy in fantasy baseball
In every fantasy baseball draft, there are points where managers have tough decisions to make. In snake drafts, two similarly ranked players may be calling to you. In a salary cap auction, managers need to know when to bid an extra dollar or two and when to stop. Upside, consistency, durability, positional need and statistical versatility are important player profile components to consider when faced with a hard choice. Flexible positional eligibility can be a surefire tiebreaker during a snake draft or when deciding whether to bid higher on a player in auction formats. Advertisement Multi-position eligibility elevates the fantasy appeal of a draft target. It gives you maneuverability throughout the draft when looking to fill various positions. During the season, you will have more roster pliability when dealing with injuries, and players who can slide in and out of different lineup slots become additionally valuable in daily lineup formats. I'm looking comprehensively at position eligibility factors for the 2025 season, including positional depth and prime draft targets. My analysis is mainly based on standard 5×5 Roto leagues. This will be the first installment in a two-part series where I focus on positional depth, site requirements and guidelines and share top players to highlight on fantasy spreadsheets. Below, I've ranked offensive positions for fantasy baseball depth as a first step to determining where multi-position players can be most valuable. Before diving into specific site platform qualifiers, positions are ranked from weakest to strongest overall. This is always the thinnest position in fantasy baseball, especially in tougher leagues where two players must be started at catcher. There aren't too many guys who will give you ample production at more than one position, including catcher, yet I am interested in stashing David Fry until he returns to full health. Following catcher, second base must be considered regarding position scarcity. In NFBC leagues, only six second basemen are being drafted in the top 100. Jordan Westburg, who can also play third base, and Matt McLain, with additional shortstop eligibility, are being drafted around pick 90. Somewhat comparable to first base, there is a fall-off after the top 5 at third, which ends with Manny Machado. Still, you can get an adequate option through the top 12. Jazz Chisholm Jr. gives you usefulness at third base and the outfield — more on him below. As you get deeper into the position, many players also qualify at second base, providing additional flexibility at the middle and corner infielder spots. Advertisement According to the most recent NFBC ADPs, almost 10 first basemen are being drafted in the top 100. Good power is available in the position's top 12 or so spots. Depending on the platform, some viable dual-position finds are available, such as Cody Bellinger, who can also play the outfield, and Jake Burger, a qualifier at third base. Shortstop is loaded with good depth at the top, as six of the best shortstops are being drafted in the top 25 in NFBC leagues. A total of 11 shortstops are being taken in the top 100. Mookie Betts, the ultimate dual-position acquisition, has an ADP of 11.2 overall. Oneil Cruz offers SS/OF versatility at 39.6. This is naturally the deepest offensive position in fantasy baseball because of pure volume, but it must be viewed uniquely because while three outfielders start for every MLB team, many fantasy baseball teams require five OF spots. Outfielders fly off the board fast, as the top 24 are gone in the top 100 in current NFBC drafts. Only approximately five of them have any sort of multi-positional eligibility. How deep this position is on the surface is sort of an optical illusion. Where players qualify depends on the platform or custom settings put in place by a league manager. Here are some of the basic hitter guidelines by site, with default rules spotlighted. On Yahoo Sports, information from previous seasons and MLB rosters are used for preseason determinations, and a player must make five starts or 10 total appearances to qualify at a position. On ESPN, players must have logged 20 games or 25 percent of their games played at a position in a previous season. Once a player has 10 games at a position in-season, he can qualify at a new position. In leagues, hitters must have played 20 games at a position last year or will play five there during the upcoming season. On Fantrax, hitters require 20 games played at a position from the previous year or 10 during the current season. The NFBC has similar requirements as Fantrax. Advertisement Considering the aforementioned depth by position, these are some of my favorite multi-position players to target in 2025 drafts. The ones not featured here will appear in the following article of this two-part series: Mookie Betts (NFBC ADP of 11.22) SS/OF/2B (Yahoo): Betts is the top multi-positional superstar available and is even more valuable in Yahoo leagues. Betts qualifies in all other formats at SS and OF, yet his 18 games played at 2B in 2024 boost his appeal on that site even more. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (23.5) OF/3B/2B (pending): He can be drafted as a top-three third baseman, but the major added appeal of Chisholm is that he is going to return to second base in 2025, which will give him unique eligibility at three positions on all platforms. If he can play close to a full season, Chisholm will be an ideal multi-eligibility and multi-statistical standout. Oneil Cruz (39.6) SS/OF: With 23 games played in the OF last year, Cruz barely cracked eligibility there, yet now he is set to play outfield full-time. There is a definite 30/30 promise for 2025 here, and while Cruz is being drafted as a top 15 OF, he goes off the board as a No. 7 SS. Jordan Westburg (85.0) 3B/2B: After his breakthrough campaign with Baltimore last year, Westburg is being drafted as a top 4 fantasy second baseman and has the extra 3B qualification. You can get 20 homers and 10 steals if you're concerned about the thinner nature of 2B availability. Matt McLain (91.6) SS/2B: He missed last season and has yet to play a full schedule in the majors. McLain, however, carries a lot of potential for power and speed in a favorable home park, and we could see a 20/20 season from him as a projected top-5 to top-10 second baseman. Cody Bellinger (102.88) OF/1B): If I don't land one of the top 5 players at 1B, I will be satisfied with Bellinger as a top-10 option. He is being drafted as the 25th OF in NFBC leagues. He should be a solid pick for 25-plus home runs in Yankee Stadium, with the opportunity to be a featured performer in a retooled lineup. Advertisement Jake Burger (112.4) 1B/3B: I will take dual eligibility with 30-plus HR power here as long as batting average can be recouped elsewhere. Moving away from Miami into a better hitting environment in Texas can only help Burger's outlook. If you miss out on Pete Alonso and his possible 35-plus HRs earlier, getting Burger and a few less HRs is a decent alternative. Luis Rengifo (151.6) 2B/3B: Keep an eye on Rengifo's preseason hamstring injury, but if he logs close to a full season's worth of games, you can get a respectable batting average along with 15 homers and 15 stolen bases. Rengifo is an adequate complementary infield pickup. Luis Arraez (175.8) 1B/2B: Arraez is just a one-category hitter. Get him later and slide him into the middle or corner infield. He may be more valuable at 2B due to the scarcity there. Next: Site-specific standouts, sleepers and players who will gain or lose eligibility in 2025. (Photo of Mookie Betts: Brandon Sloter / Getty Images)
