The Cubs exercised their $16MM option on Aramis Ramirez, but the slugging third baseman exercised a contractual right to void the option and forfeit his $2MM buyout, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (on Twitter).
Ramirez, a projected Type B free agent, will explore the free agent market following a season in which he belted 26 homers and posted a .306/.361/.510 triple slash line. With the exception of 2009, Ramirez has hit 25 or more home runs every year since 2003. Given the thin market for free agent third basemen, Ramirez should have no problem securing a multiyear deal that will guarantee him more than the $16MM he'd have earned in 2012.
Earlier in October, Ramirez made it clear he would need a multiyear commitment to return to the Cubs, so it's not surprising to see him decline the opportunity to return on a one-year deal. Exercising the option was the first transaction for Theo Epstein as president of the Cubs, and Jed Hoyer's first as the team's GM. Assuming the Cubs later offer Ramirez arbitration and he turns it down, they'll get a supplemental draft pick if he signs elsewhere.
He turned down $16 million?
Sure. He’s hitting the market coming off of a healthy and effective season. Next season, he might miss a month or three with a nagging inury and be less effective after coming back.
He’ll cash in somewhere. There’s a shortage of offensive 3B right now.
Ask yourself what teams are short of a third baseman that intends to invest more than 16 million a year to, lol Aramis is a fool for turning down that option.
he wants a multiyear deal. he will by the best option at 3rd base this offseason. nobody said he would get more than 16 mil a season. but he will get at least 1 3 deal year.
id rather have a 1yr $16M deal than a 3yr/30M..maybe he has no condidence that he’ll have another good yr
Wow, this one is actually pretty shocking
Not that surprising, really. He is the best third baseman available by far. He might not get quite $16MM next year but he’ll certainly get multiple years (which he said he would stay for if the Cubs gave it to him, so that’s obviously his goal). Plus he’s coming off a strong year, so it’s not like waiting another year helps him in that regard.
It was a strong 4 months. He did absolutely nothing in April and May as he helped bury the Cubs in the standings.
The Cubs won’t re-sign him. Theo wants to rebuild their terrible farm system and will gladly take the draft picks for Ramirez and Pena.
If the Cubs could bring him back for 3/36 (or somewhere in that ballpark) (Edit: I’m factoring in the potential for a hometown discount in exchange for the multi-year deal), which might be a pipe dream, but humor me, would you do it?
I agree with the post below that they’d gladly take draft pick compensation if he leaves, but I’m sure they’d also like to fill 3rd base at the major league level without having to trade prospects for another team’s 3rd baseman. That would defeat the purpose of building the system.
I like the idea of a competent guy at 3rd, with the price being nothing but a chunk of major-league payroll, which is arguably the least concerning thing for next year’s team.
How about Chase Headley, Jason Bartlett(plus some cash to the Cubs), and one of the Padres Top AA(they have several) pitching prospects for Starlin Castro? This would enable the Cubs to comfortably offer big money to either Pujols or Fielder and fill the vacant 3B spot with an on base machine for Fielder to drive runs in, plus help the Cubs start rebuilding their farm system with a middle of the rotation arm that could be ready by late this year(Castro, Erlin, or Kelly).
No. That’s not going to happen. Castro is worth way more than that, by any measure.
(Age, position, skills, contract)There’s no way they trade him.
He can easily get much more and years on the open market
So I guess he is expecting somewhere around 3/60MM to 5/90…or more?
I don’t think the yearly money is going to go up, just the number of years. 4/$60MM seems doable, though probably on the high end of what he can expect.
I think something inthe area of 3/45 is most likely, but I wouldn’t put it past someone to add on a 4th year
again I agree he’s in the 3/$45m range….maybe 4/$60m but the 4th being an option yr
Someone will be making a huge mistake paying $15m a year for 3 or 4 years. Over the past 3 years Ramirez has been worth approximately $10m/year. Unless he is going to be more effective and more healthy for his 34-37 years than he was for his 31-33 years this will be a bad bet.
3/$60MM? He’s not getting $20 annually. I’m guessing 4/$60 as well.
Oh, I never said he was going to get that. My guess was more along the lines of what he may be asking for at the start of FA.
I agree with him settling for 3/45~4/60 as well…then again, stranger things HAVE happened…
I think he’d rather want a championship.
Then you dont know him to well
Where is this “well” you are talking about?
And why is he going to it?
in a weak free agent market he is looking for a multi year deal
so he will be offered arbritration because the cubs know he’ll turn it down.
Theo knew he would turn it down, and just saved 2 Mil?
Yep. By offering and letting Rammy turn it down, the Cubs saved the 2 million buyout.
AND got draft picks. Chalk that up as #1 on the Smart Things Theo Did Hendry Certainly Would Have F’d Up list.
That’s going to be quite a long list
he has to offer arbitration first..and if ramirez accepts it mite cost close to $20M..yea a f’n genius
Ramirez is the ONLY semi-decent 3B on the FA market and he’s going to be 34 years old next season. If his agent lets him accept arbitration instead of pursuing one last multi-year deal, he’s an unbelievable moron.
“The Red Sox should sign him”
Supplemental picks! Love it!!
Hendry would have probably offered Ramirez a 10-year, $280M contract.
Don’t forget the full No Trade Clause…
and he would probably put a clause in so the Cubs pay for his kids school since that is why he never wanted to leave Chicago in the first place!
Hendry didn’t give away anything, Hendry was forced to give out the contracts to Z and Sorryano by Sam Zell so Zell could sell the team for more money, People who continue to blame Hendry have no idea what their talking about, Hendry isn’t the one paying the players, He’s doing what he’s told just like any employee does for his job.
I smell a conspiracy theory… How exciting!
Exactly, Gocubs2010. I said something similar above.
Epstein isn’t going to offer him arbitration after he made 16m and had a healthy season. Just because he said would not accept a 1/16m deal does not mean he wouldn’t go to arbitration and try to cash in on a larger figure and Epstein is not Hendry, he is smart enough to know this contract is one of the dead weights he needed to unload and Ramirez did him the favor. why give Ramirez a 2nd chance?
He wants to come back for less than 16m after he hits the market, maybe even give him a cpl years that is fine, but 16m for a season is way too much for this guy.
That’s how the game is played.
The Cubs picked up their end and saved $2M when he declined. Now you offer arbitration because you want the draft picks. That’s just how it’s done.
Why would you NOT offer arbitration? Are you that scared of Aramis Ramirez? The only reason he’d accept it is to spite the organization. He’s baseball old and this is the last multi-year deal he will get. I doubt he’ll risk that by accepting arbitration and either digressing or injuring himself.
No agent is going to tell him to accept arbitration when he can command multi-year deals. Not exactly many quality offensive 3rd baseman out there anymore, so he’ll get offers.
Not sure Epstein is going to be willing to take that chance Ramirez will decline. Remember he will have several days to guage the market before he has to come back to Epstein and let him know whether or not he wants to accept arbitration or not and Ramirez has had a fine career, don’t get me wrong, but he is going to be 34, 14 years of wear and tear.. I just don’t know and Epstein came to Chicago to rebuild that team. Chancey you know?
Epstein DID have a habit in Boston of offering arbitration to the majority of his players FYI in case you didn’t know, most paid off, but he got stuck with some that didn’t help as well who accepted. Tony Graffino comes to mind trying t get picks by offering arbitration. Some turned it down and he made out, like Varitek.
Anyway.. Hope they can get picks out of him if they do offer arbitration, would be nice to see Epstein get a solid jumpstart on the Cubbies farm system ASAP.
Offering Ramirez arbitration is merely a formality, and it will happen. It’s a bigger risk to give up a 1st round pick. Aramis knows he’s not figuring into Theo’s plan for this team, and he’s not a guy that would cause a stir.
Actually Theo will most likely offer arbitration. Ramirez will be unlikely to accept, as he seeks a multi-year deal. And even if he does accept, there’s not that much damage done. He’s a decent player, and to return on a 1-year (though somewhat expensive) deal isn’t the end of the world. Just the mere possibility of receiving a sandwich compensation pick is worth the risk of Ramirez accepting arbitration, though like I said, I doubt he’ll accept arbitration.
You know Hendry made all market offers when he offered them, right? That teams were willing to offer Soriano what we did (an offer heavily pushed upon by the stupid Tribune), as well as Z and Fukudome, right?
Hendry weakened the farm, signed Bradley to a horrible deal and stacked on a few too many big contracts, sure – but I will never discredit him for the two playoff runs we made under him, the intelligent signings of DeRosa, Piniella, Lee, not to mention the trades for Ramirez-Lofton-Simon and Silva for Bradley. Plus Hendry has always been credited as easy to work with and a favorite among players (contract jokes aside).
I’m the biggest fan of having Hoyer and Epstein here for sure – I’ve been ecstatic about it for weeks – but Hendry was not the flaming pile of embarrassment everyone makes him out to be.
Dude, come on. Read the thread and figure out it’s sarcasm. Other people did.
First off, don’t buy into some freaking conspiracy theory that the Tribune Company even bothered with baseball business. Crane Kenney was the issue in the Soriano signing. He was offered a 5-year deal, and Kenney pushed for an 8-year deal. Sure, can he have been pushed by Sam Zell, maybe, but he could have also been pushed by his misguided belief that he understands baseball. There is nothing to suggest that the Tribune Company was heavily involved in baseball operations.
Second, Hendry was a player’s GM and thus overvalued guys like Marmol, Ramirez, Big Z, etc. He also listened to Piniella and whoever else said that we needed “a lefty bat to balance our lineup” (I’m paraphrasing) and dealt DeRosa.
He’s a great guy, sure, I don’t dispute that, but I want someone that’s going to make the right decisions. Hendry had no idea how to draft or develop. He was able to make decent trades, I’ll give him that, but he also got hosed by a certain Theo Epstein in the Nomar trade.
The basic thing is that Hendry always dealt/signed guys in a position of NEED. Theo talks about assets and never making decisions based on NEED, and Hendry never had assets because he didn’t draft well, always re-signed guys that would have given us draft picks, and traded more prospects away than he got back. I’m sure there are worse GMs, but the fact is, he wasn’t a good one.
do the tigers go after him?
would make a lot of sense for them.
Definitely for the Tigers although they have Castellanos coming up the pipeline. 3 years for Aramis could be the perfect timing as Castellanos would be 22 when the deal is over. (Assuming a 3 year deal for Aramis and that he doesnt become a bust in the near future)
good, one less guy Theo has to worry about. let him go get a 4 year deal elsewhere
What about the Mets?
What is he gonna play? Pitcher?
The Mets have no money =(
How about the Tigers sign him to a 2 year contract for 30 million with a 3rd year option?
that sounds very reasonable, however given the lack of talent available at the position, he will probably be able to score more than that.
Eh, even with a weak market I doubt anyone goes much further than that offer. Maybe whoever guarantees the third year will get him to sign. But the fact is he’s 34 and not a great fielder.
I’m gonna laugh if he gets 3 years for 16 million.
There’s a 0% chance that happens.
seems amazing he’s only a type B
Takes into account last 2 yrs. If it conisered only 1 or 3, 4 etc. he’d definitely be A.
He’s more of an A than Darren Oliver.
Thanks to 2010.
Now watch us resign him to a decent multi year deal until we have a ready young 3rd baseman. And we get saved money and a pick from it! Theo is the man!
why would “you” get a pick if he re-signs with the Cubs? please riddle me that.
Theo’s THAT GOOD man!
the pick he’ll get is his nose..epstein and cashman are overated..cashman got a $3M contract cause epstein got one..oh i wish boss george were still with us..cashman would be gone
I don’t know…poor defense, plays in a hitters park, will be 34 during next season could spell disaster for any team signing him long term.
Wrigley Field is FAR from a hitters park it’s not even close to Baltimore, Yankee Stadium, US Cellular etc.
Depends heavily on the wind.
I spy the Mariners, Angels, and Tigers salivating over the opportunity to sign this guy. Apparently 16MM isn’t enough to put on a Cubs uniform for 6 more months.
The Mariners have too many holes (3B, LF, SP) and not enough money to buy Aramis Ramirez. The same reason makes me skeptical of rumors connecting the Mariners to Prince Fielder. I would expect serious interest in names like 3B Wilson Betemit, LF Ryan Ludwick, and SP Paul Maholm, because they also need a catcher like Ryan Doumit to platoon with Olivo, and bullpen help like Juan Cruz.
Ms has the money. They are willing to spend if the target is right.
However, I dont think Ramirez is the right target. Righty pull hitter wont survive in Safeco. Fielder, however, is a different case. I think Ms will try to bid on Fielder but not Ramirez.
I was just going to say the same thing, right handed pull hitters (Beltre) don’t work, Beltre is a great hitter and people in Seattle knew it, thats why we never booed him. Safeco was built for Ken Griffey Jr and his left handed stroke, it only took him 10 years to actually get a chance to play there as they traded him, and are now left with a park suited for lefties, hence why Prince Fielder would have an awesome time hitting there.
Any team that gives him a deal equal to or more than 3YR/42M is asking for trouble. A 2YR/25M deal with a vesting option (based on health and performance) for a 3rd year would be fair.
Angels or Boston 3 years nor 45MM,I think Ramirez is going to sign in the American League team.
Come to Philly!
I’d love to have his bat in our line up but I think he’s going to get at least the Raul Ibanez contract.
If they can get him at a reasonable average annual salary for 3 years, I’d love to see it happen.
If he signs with the Red Sox it would probably be as a part-time 3 b and part-time DH until they find out if Middlebrooks can make it this year. Actually if they signed ARam and put him between AGon and a resigned Papi–that would make for a pretty good lineup:
Ellsbury, Pedroia, Crawford, AGon, ARam, Papi, Youk(DH), Reddick, Salty, Scu.
If Youk is at DH where does Papi play? You have ten guys in your lineup. I asume you are meaning Papi and Youk split time at DH and the 7th spot in the order?
“You have ten guys in your lineup.”
Well, he is “mad”, isn’t he?
Sorry about that–meant to pull Youk and keep him as an option at 1 b, 3 b and DH if they can’t come up with a trade that will bowl them over. Similar to the Texas situation with Michael Young after getting Andrus to play SS then Beltre to play third–looking to trade him, then grateful they had him.
Well if the Tigers don’t make a push for Reyes, then they need to make a push to get Aramis. They need a better infield overall and if they could get either the combo of Aaron Hill and Aramis OR Reyes and Hill, plus they need to resign Santiago as insurance and as a rest giver.
I know Chisenhall is our thirdbaseman of the future, but if we are serious about trying to win in 2012, I would love to see the Tribe make an offer. But it won’t happen.
3/42 is what Aram is probably looking at.
I like the offers of 2-3 years (3rd vesting/option) around 14 million. If he doesnt accept offer arbitration (he would refuse as it would put him back where he doesnt want to be accpeting a 1 year contract). And here is a crazy thought sign Pujols and place him at 3rd and resign Pena to play 1st.
Not sure about Pujols at 3B. Didn’t exactly do a great job there in limited time this season. Gotta go back to ’02 to find the last time he even had an opportunity at the position…when he was 22.
Nice! Two draft picks coming up when he declines arbitration.
I’m surprised no one has even thought about the White Sox as a dark horse. They aren’t a very defense-minded team, have a need at 3b, and Aramis has said he’d prefer to stay in Chicago to play for a contender. Aramis playing for the White Sox would arguably make them a contender, even if Dunn, Rios, and Beckham don’t rebound. But one could expect at least one of them to rebound this season though (right?) He might command less money if he can stay in Chicago. The hard part obviously, would be finding the money, but letting Buerhle walk might help, as would dealing another one of their pitchers (Floyd or Danks).
SS Alexei (I know, weak leadoff hitter, but who else?)
LF Viciedo
1b) Konerko
RF) Quentin
3b) Aramis
DH) Dunn
CF) Rios
2b) Beckham
C) Pierzynski/Flowers
Marlins or Rays?