The White Sox have declined their $10MM club option on shortstop Alexei Ramirez, the team announced. Instead, Chicago will pay him a $1MM buyout.
Ramirez represented one of the most difficult option decisions in this year’s market. The 34-year-old veteran has been a solid contributor for years in Chicago, and the organization has needs all over its infield. Now, Chicago figures to be in the market for a shortstop to help bridge the gap to top prospect Tim Anderson.
As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes explained in his offseason outlook piece on the club, Ramirez may not be worth the $9MM spread between his value and the option price, but he could earn something close to it as a free agent. He’s coming off of a disappointing, .249/.285/.357 season, with declining defensive metrics. But he had been a consistent two-to-four WAR performer for many seasons before (even while generally carrying slightly below-average batting lines).
Teams looking for additions at short can now consider Ramirez alongside the rest of a market that isn’t exactly bursting with sure things. Ian Desmond will no doubt draw the most interest, with Asdrubal Cabrera also a reasonably young option. Ramirez and Jimmy Rollins figure to be the most appealing options among the older players available.
Interesting. Wonder whom they have in mind to take over SS until Anderson is ready. Desmond?
that’s what I’m thinking.. I wonder what his price would be though since it will most likely get pretty high
Hes going to be massively overpayed or take a one year deal to build value. In the latter choice, the south side makes a lot of sense.
They really do but idk how he improves the White Sox’ weaknesses. Desmond is very poor defensively, I hope a nats fan can back that up, low oba, and high strikeouts. All of those are areas they need to improve and I highly doubt Desmond somehow shifts that with what his career numbers show
Desmond isn’t that awful defensively. Makes some errors but is super athletic. Had a bad year all around in 2015.
I don’t see Desmond as a good fit. Especially with Tim Anderson in the wings. I wouldn’t be surprised to bad contract swap for Hanley Ramirez or Starlin Castro.
Who are the White Sox’ bad contracts other than LaRoche (who certainly has no role with Cubs)?
Danks, but there’s no tossing that hand grenade
Hanley or Castro? Wow another delusional white sox fan. He’s 34 years old. Hanley is 31 with plenty of worth. Both teams have infield depth while Castro is 25 coming off a position change and signs of life after a Sept. where he batted .400
Both are pretty fair. Hanley is a massive overpay, one of worst in baseball. In fact, LaRoche straight up for Hanley would be a bad deal for ChiSox. Red Sox would have to cover salary. And Castro is worth nothing. Maybe a C prospect unless Cubs pay his freight. Plus LaRoche is useless to Cubs.
Ramirez makes too much for the White Sox to be interested (and he can’t play short).
Castro can’t play short either, really. And it wouldn’t make sense to acquire someone worse than Alexei on a longer contract. Heck, Castro isn’t even Saladino, and Saladino shouldn’t get the job.
Tyler Saladino will play either SS or 3B; he’s good enough defensively (probably better than Alexei) and did fine with the bat. They’ll either go with Olt at 3B or sign someone for one of those spots; my suspicion is that they’ll sign a few cheaper IF options (Juan Uribe types, either old and just want another chance or younger and just want another chance) to cheap major league or combo minor/major deals.
White Sox won’t be competitive next year, and everyone knows that. They’re on year 2 now of a 3 year plan. So there’s no need for a Desmond or whatnot signing; and no need to pay Alexei $9MM more either (except loyalty). They could bring him back if he doesn’t get any good offers on something like 2y/15MM, of course.
Signing Desmond would be one of the worst possible things they could do, honestly. They have good talent at SS in the minors, even past Anderson. Let the talent ride, build up some more depth in the minors, and win in 2017-18. Cubs will have all the attention anyways for the next few years, and the Sox can’t compete with that even if they do win.
Cubs will always have the attention. Win or lose
Saladino is essentially giving up on next year. Desmond isn’t, but I agree he makes little sense because he’d want a long term deal.
The compete next year move available to the White Sox was picking up this option. Now that they haven’t, it’s time to start thinking about 2017 (or more likely 2020 when Hahn isn’t GM anymore).
I would happily trade JJ Hardy to the White Sox for something interesting.
Sox should have traded him while he had some value. Glad the Yankees didnt go for him. I remember alot of the armchair GM proposals were ridiculous in here.
yah, I’m a sox fan and some people were calling for Severino.. maybe 4 years ago but no way would those offers ever happen
For the right price I would love to see him in the Bronx, no draft pick to give up and he can back up DD(certainly not start), and why not get him ready to play second base? And if he is beat out in spring training for the 2nd base job, you have a solid veteran that still can run to be your utility infielder. Heck of a better option than Brendan Ryan. And with Ackley to share those utility duties, we can start to see the formation of a formidable bench. Cheap 2 yr deal is all though.
Id rather the Yankees target Zobrist or Utley. Especially Utley just for use as a backup/bench/reserve.
What makes you think this isn’t to give Anderson a shot at the job for 2016? My guess is that they don’t sign anyone or, if they do, that they plan on trying to get Ramirez back for a few million less. I don’t see much to suggest that Anderson isn’t already ready. I would like to see him clean up his fielding…
I’d like to see defense and strikeouts improved a bit but I would not be surprised to see him start day 1. Personally, I’d like a little more seasoning but whatever happens
I agree, but I much prefer the Anderson/Sanchez path to the Ian Desmond one. And for the love of God, get Micah Johnson in the lineup.
Anderson is SO not ready. That would be a significant mistake. What they need is a veteran with a couple years left on a deal (or a new, short, term deal for a FA) who can play SS for a half-year or so, then slide to 2B. You know, the Rockies just declined the option on their 1B. Why not LaRoche for Reyes and some cash?
Anderson has shown exactly zero in his ability to lay off the pitches necessary to be successful at the major league level. If this was done to give Anderson the job…or thinking that somehow someone as far away as Anderson can take the job in spring training..then every scout in the White Sox system should be fired immediately.
Did someone honestly lose their job due to a low BABIP, that was a career outlier?
What a stupid move by Chicago’s front office.
he wasn’t worth the money? I highly doubt he was dropped due to low babip. Their isn’t even any indication to that. It’s simply a very expensive option to give someone who is obviously regressing in all facets of the game
He was dropped due to not being “worth the money” aka not hitting enough, due to an outlier BABIP.
He wasnt “regressing in all facets of the game”, that’s just wrong. He had a lower than usual Batting Average/OBP due to a lower than usual BABIP. His defense wasnt liked by UZR but those fluctuate wildly. Him at $10M is fine value for money, as long as he doesnt get BABIP’d to death – but that can happen to almost anyone, hence this ridiculous decision.
Yes, I agree with UZR but not being worth 10mm can also be related to a cheaper option on the market while also redirecting that money somewhere. Say for instance they sign Rollins as a stop gap ss for Anderson at say 3-6 mil for a year that 2-5mm in savings goes somewhere else to potentially upgrade a larger position of need. At 34 you really can’t expect Alexei to continue being a large performer. I really think you’re slightly over-reacting but that’s just me.
Rollins is a great idea. I bet they do that.
Rollins in the AL = .150 BA. No way he lasts a year.
Rollins is a great idea.
I bet there’s zero chance a veteran with plenty of better options will sign to be on a last place team. Next?
What are these better options? After hitting .220, Rollins will be happy if anyone offers a starting job.
Might be more to do with personality as obviously from strictly numbers stand point everyone kinda agrees it wasn’t a slam dunk to be exercised. Maybe Hahn is trying to change clubhouse culture and removing a more tenured player may help.
A lot more goes into these types of decisions than just strictly numbers. While a loss of a player like this “may” hurt the team on the field, it could improve team chemistry if one believes in that sort of thing and most people who manage others realize its value. I’m not pretending to know if thats the issue, just that is probably more than just numbers at this point.
I like this response, you are right, it might have to do with Ramirez and Ventura butting heads. I don’t think bringing in someone for $6M is a worthwhile money saving venture, but you are right, there are non-baseball reasons why this would happen.
Non-baseball describes the entire Robin Ventura situation.
If it comes out the White Sox passed on their best option at short this season because of the worst manager in baseball, they’re going to have a really rough go of getting people to the ballpark next year. Or ever again.
Agree. They can sign Stephen Drew for half that amount if the Chisox want a glove only that can’t hit.
All of these great veteran options. People do you realize veterans who are productive don’t sign with last place teams? They sign with contenders.
Depends if they have alternatives. Not going to be a lot of bidding wars over Rollins or Drew.
People do you realize contenders already have good SS’s. At least better than Rollins or Drew.
Not really, lots of players sign with the Padres because they like living in Southern California but not LA. Brian Giles pretty much said he’d never play for anyone else. In some cases, comfort trumps winning.
Nothing more comfortable than snow in April in Chicago!
do you really think any multi-tiered organization is going to make a decision on personnel based on one and only one stat? do you think what any organization tells the public is the whole truth and only the truth on their decision making process?
I agree. Alexei is going to remain productive for a few more years still, even if the defense is falling off. He’s not a perfect player, but he is by far the best option available to the White Sox on a short term deal.
Decent bounce back candidate, but not at that price. Wouldn’t be surprised if they still try to resign him on the cheap.
As a Mariners fan, we are ready to contend. We have the core pieces. We need a contact hitting shortstop that’s quick on his feet. The defense is not as high as we are looking for but if we can get Alexi hitting at the top of the order playing shortstop, we would have quite a bit of success. Plate discipline has been a struggle for the Mariners, other than Seth Smith. Even if he doesn’t hit first and we go more of a CF, Seager, Cruz, Cano, Smith, Ramirez; looks a lot better than LoMo and Miller in the 6 hole
As someone who’s not a Mariners fan, let me tell you: you aren’t contending anytime soon, especially with that pitching staff. Go get Price or something then you can talk. You went 76-86 last year with all your supposed top prospects up in the bigs, and they were not as good as first thought. Matter of fact, unless they go nuts and get Price, Cespedes and another SP, I see the Mariners in the cellar in 2016
It took a few years before Smoltz, Maddux, Glavine etc… blossomed at the big league level. It is an adjustment from the minors to the majors. Don’t rush it.
Unfortunately, Mariners also need a 1B, CF, and a #2
Ketel Marte did alright in a limited sample size
So happy! Finally I do not have to watch this selfish player. All he wants to do at plate is pull the ball. Can’t bunt, never gets runners over. Falls asleep on defense. Terrible base runner. Thank you! Rick Hahn.
Darwin Barney would be an upgrade. Sox had their chance to get a stud pitcher for him in the past and blew it like they blew the trading deadline this year.
Darwin Barney? Surely you jest. lol
what stud pitcher was that?
Really surprised by this. They don’t have someone who can immediately step in (Anderson looks more on track for 2017) and it seems even on the low end of 2 WAR he has averaged over the last 6 or so seasons would be worth somewhere around 13 million. With the regression in average it still seems 9 million additional above the buyout is right in line with what they should expect. Sure you would like to pay him 6 but can you find an adequate replacement for less than 9? I doubt it when it comes to shortstop. Maybe they look to a super utility type for way less to hold the fort until Anderson is ready.
Agreed, Ramirez at $10M isn’t even on the top 100 “most overpaid” players list. He had a bad BABIP that was not in line with his usual BABIPs. That’s it. That dropped his BA/OBP and any related numbers to that. His ISO, BB/SO rates and other advanced metrics all fall in line with what he’s done his entire career. With no clear ready-now player to replace him, this is the first bad player move of the offseason (Baker to WSN represents the worst move overall).
Glad to see the Sox did this, was really worried they’d make the “safe” choice by exercising the option. This frees up $9 MM to spend elsewhere. I wouldn’t rule out Ramirez returning for less money or a 2-year $14-15 Million type of deal. This team has a lot of holes and having some flexibility now will help them. Wish they still had Marcus Semien though.
So you admit the team has a lot of holes and you wish they still had Semien to play SS, but are glad the team created another hole – one without an immediate in-house option to fix??? That makes no sense.
This was a terrible choice, plain and simple. It really just means they are more than likely going to go after Ian Desmond, who is going to cost much much more and barely perform better than Ramirez next year.
once again, you are over-reacting. Who knows if Ramirez agreed to a paycut to come back and that’s being negotiated, maybe ramirez wanted out, maybe he did in fact butt heads with the staff or players, there is so much more going on and no team will ever come out and say we declined his option because of xyz reasons. Just relax already. It’s not like they declined a option for Abreu or Sale. The team won’t win a title with or without Ramirez next year unless major changes are made.
If Anderson starts at ss or x player fills in until he’s ready while that 10mm is redirected to say a no.2 pitcher to slot behind Sale or say idk one of the star of’s on the market I am completely okay with declining his option to improve the club in other areas.
If they declined the option and replace him with Stephen Drew or Rollins while making minimal moves that do nothing but keep the team afloat then it was an awful decision. Let the off-season play out before you declare this one of the worst decisions of the off-season that started a whole 2 days ago.
None of what you have suggested has even the remote chance of being true.
Alexei is not signing back for less, Anderson is not playing short this year (at least he shouldn’t, he has tons of work to do on his hitting approach), and Drew/Rollins will not sign with a last place club when they will have myriad better contending options for their skills.
let me guess you have insight into the organization? You’ve personally scouted Anderson? You’re the agent for Drew and Rollins? If that’s a yes to any of those cool, good for you but chances are the answer is no.
Just as much as me, you have no idea why they declined the option or what will happen the rest of the off-season. You can make these predictions about why they did it or why they aren’t serious about contending but the matter of the fact is no one knows except the White Sox fo and Ramirez.
We’re 2 days into the off-season wait until opening day before you and a few others on this thread declare a team not serious about contending because they declined an option on a 34 year old ss.
hawk14, it looks like you are the one who needs to “relax”?
Or maybe just man up and admit you’re way off base.
Wow dude.
Anderson’s inability to lay off breaking pitches is standard on all of his scouting reports. It’s why well respected guys like John Sickels have expressed concerns over whether Anderson will ever be major league ready – let alone this spring.
The shortstop market is barren. Alexei is either the best or second best option on the market now (depending on how you view Ian Desmond). He is getting a multi-year, big contract. He is not signing a short term, low money deal to remain on a last place team. Not unless the White Sox put a drill through his head before releasing him.
what contending club would want Drew or Rollins in a starting role? No, the Mets are not signing either. If they want to have a starting role, they will have to sign with a dark horse. The White Sox were predicted by many to win last year, if you remember.
Drew and Rollins are garbage compared to Ramirez. That’s a fact.
Are you just going to ignore the fact that both players started for division winners last year? More than a thousand at bats between the two of them last year for the Yankees and Dodgers. Their play is a big reason those teams succeeded.
What makes you think I am over-reacting and need to relax? The fact that I disagree with you? I’m plenty relaxed, I love hot stove season and I enjoy chatting about it, please leave me alone on this site in future unless you bring facts and stats to the table.
Semien was the worst rated defensive shortstop in the American League last year. He isn’t better than the in house options, which like Semien are severely below average.
Semien worst rated? Where are you seeing that? Fangraphs has Brad Miller, Eugenio Suarez, Danny Santana, Daniel Descalso being worse than Semien – who to be fair was not aware he’d be an everyday SS on this day last year. The A’s signed Ron Washington to help him and he did get a lot better, but Semien’s bat is plus and also getting better. He’s going to be a fine player, not a defensive wizard but more than capable with the bat. He’s certainly better than anyone the White Sox could get right now.
I’m looking at Fangraphs right now and Semien is last in UZR (-10)! and UZR/50 (-10.4). He is also last in Fangraphs own defensive rating metric, at -3.3.
In fact, he’s not only last in the AL in those categories, he’s last in all of baseball. And it isn’t even close.
I bet Hahn dumpster dives and waits for Theo to Dfa a SS
Tyler Saladino will likely be shortstop for most of next year, at least until Tim Anderson is ready to take the job.
This is bittersweet news for White Sox fans. With no better options out there on a short term deal and no real upside to Saladino, it appears the White Sox have given up on competing next season just three days after the World Series.
Wait til 2017 it seems.
I understand. Alexi was pivotal in their winning 2015 season. Any team that wishes to win the WS in ’16 would be foolish not to sign him.
Alexei wasn’t the problem with the 2015 White Sox. Robin Ventura was. Rick Hahn was. Having no answer at 3b, 2b, and catcher was. Tyler Saladino was. Carlos Sanchez was. Avisail Garcia was. Tyler Flowers was. John Danks was. Jeff Samardzija was.
Alexei Ramirez is a quality player who hit well last year but got unlucky and saw his BABIP drop. Those things happen from year to year. He will be right back to being one of the most productive shortstops in the game next year. Now the White Sox have an extra hole on top of the above with no answer available to them, other than the same crappy options that lost them the previous season.
The White Sox core is in its prime. By the time they get the holes filled, the prime will be over.