Report: José Ramírez, Guardians agree to 5-year, $124M deal - MLB

CLEVELAND — Jose Ramirez forced the Guardians to go deep into their pockets.

The All-Star third baseman agreed to a five-year, $124 million contract on the eve of Opening Day with Cleveland, a record-setting deal for a franchise that hasn’t been able to swing with baseball’s big spenders over the years.

Ramirez’s deal runs through the 2028 season, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. Ramirez still must take a physical and numerous other details need to be finalized before the contract is official, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The deal includes a full no-trade clause and is the biggest in team history, more than doubling the $60 million committed to slugger Edwin Encarnacion five years ago.

It will be baseball’s 16th contract of $100 million or more since the end of the World Series.

The Guardians open the 2022 season – their first game since changing their name from Indians – in Kansas City on Thursday, and they’ll start it knowing Ramirez will be staying at third and batting third for the next several years.

“An absolute grinder on the field,” said pitcher Shane Bieber, who will start the opener. “Plays with his heart and soul out there. Blood sweat and tears. It’s just a guy that as a pitcher you stand on the mound and you look over your right shoulder and it’s a feeling of comfort knowing he’s there giving his all each and every play and he’s invested each and every inning and pitch and game.”

The team and Ramirez’s representatives had been in talks about a deal for weeks at training camp in Arizona. The 29-year-old Ramirez had expressed a desire to finish his career with Cleveland, which signed him as a teenager in the Dominican Republic.

After stalling, negotiations intensified the past two days before the Indians broke camp as rumors surfaced about a possible trade involving Ramirez. The Guardians went outside their normal comfort zone, but will now have Ramirez for seven more seasons.

“He talks with his play on the field, but to have him in the clubhouse and to continue to have him for the foreseeable future is important to me, the rest of the team and to him and the front office,” Bieber said. “Glad he’s staying.”

Since breaking in with Cleveland in 2013, Ramirez has blossomed into one of baseball’s best all-around players, one capable of impacting the game with his bat, glove and on the bases, where he usually loses his helmet while hustling to the next base.

Cleveland owner Paul Dolan has long been criticized for not spending on players as the Guardians have almost served as a feeder to the game’s bigger markets with stars such as Francisco Lindor, Manny Ramirez, CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee wither being traded or leaving as free agents because the team couldn’t afford to keep them.

But in the past few days, the Guardians locked up Ramirez and agreed to a five-year contract with closer Emmanuel Clase.

Signing Ramirez doesn’t address all of Cleveland’s needs, but with him anchoring their lineup and a solid starting rotation featuring Bieber, the Guardians should be able to stay in contention in the AL Central.

Ramirez had two years left on a five-year, $26 million contract he signed in 2016. That deal included two team options – $12 million in 2022 and $14 million next season – that made him the highest-paid player on Cleveland’s roster.

A three-time All-Star, Ramirez batted .266 with 36 homers and 103 RBIs last season. He’s finished in the top three in MVP voting three times in the past five seasons.

The Guardians signed Ramirez in 2009. He was brought up as a shortstop, but moved to third to make room for Lindor, who became unaffordable and was traded to the New York Mets before last season.

YOKOHAMA, Japan – Trevor Bauer apparently was shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Before about 75 reporters in a Yokohama hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform – No. 96 – on Friday and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

“I don’t believe that’s accurate,” he said of the suspension. “But I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to pitch again. I’ve always wanted to play in Japan.”

He said the suspension dealt technically with matters of pay, and he said he had contacted major league teams about playing this year. He said he would have been eligible, but did not say if he had offers.

The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jan. 12, three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games.

The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher has denied.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, after a San Diego woman said he beat and sexually abused her in 2021.

Bauer has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual. He was never charged with a crime.

Bauer joined his hometown Dodgers before the 2021 season and was 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being placed on paid leave.

Bauer said his goal with the BayStars was to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph – hence his uniform number. He said he is also working on a better change-up pitch.

He said he hoped to play by mid-April – about two weeks after the Japanese season begins – and said he has been training for the last 1 1/2 years.

“I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and throwing,” he said. “I didn’t really take any time off. So I’ve had a year and a half of development time. I’m stronger than ever. More powerful than ever.”

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years, and Bauer said that was his goal in the one-year deal.

“First and foremost, I want to help the Stars win a championship,” he said. “That involves pitching well. That involves helping teammates and learning from them. If they have questions – you know – share my knowledge with them.”

He also repeated several times about his desire to play in Japan, dating from a collegiate tournament in 2009 at the Tokyo Dome. He said playing in Japan was on his mind even before winning the Cy Young – and also immediately after.

“The Tokyo Dome was sold out,” he said. “I’d never played in front of that many people – probably combined in my life. In the United States, college games aren’t very big, so seeing that amount of passion. How many people came to a college game in Japan. It really struck me.”

He said he’d been practicing with the Japanese ball, which he said was slightly softer with higher seams.

“But overall it just feels like a baseball and the pitches move the same. The velocity is similar. I don’t notice much of a difference.”

Other teams in Japan have made similar controversial signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna – who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy – signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

He has signed for this season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

Bauer was an All-Star in 2018 and went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 seasons for Arizona (2012), Cleveland, (2013-19), Cincinnati (2019-20) and the Dodgers. He won the NL Cy Young Award with Cincinnati during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.