The Padres are unlikely to pick up their end of shortstop Alexei Ramirez’s $4MM mutual option for 2017, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Letting Ramirez go would cost the Padres $1MM in the form of a buyout, but his poor output in 2016 won’t leave the club with much choice during the offseason.
Regarding his future, Ramirez said, “I just want to finish this season well, but that’s something that’s out of my hands. It’s not in my control what happens there, so I just prepare myself, finish the season strong.”
With the Padres shifting toward a youth movement at short, where they’ve played Jose Rondon and Luis Sardinas lately, the soon-to-be 35-year-old Ramirez has begun adjusting to right field as a way to stay in the lineup against left-handed pitchers. Ramirez has hit a useful .298/.350/.404 in 123 plate appearances versus lefties this year, but his overall line of .240/.275/.331 through 440 PAs makes him a poor fit as an everyday player. Ramirez hasn’t been any better in the field, where he ranks last among shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-17) and Ultimate Zone Rating (minus-14.4)
This is the second subpar season in a row for Ramirez, whose eight-year tenure with the White Sox ended in forgettable fashion in 2015. At his best, Ramirez batted a combined .275/.313/.395 with 78 home runs in 3,868 trips to the plate from 2009-14, also playing no fewer than 148 games in each season, adding 105 steals and totaling 18.5 fWAR.
The Padres were surely hoping Ramirez would bounce back to his past form when they signed him to a one-year, $3MM deal last winter, which perhaps would’ve paved the way for an in-season trade, but that hasn’t been the case. As a result, the Friars were considering releasing Ramirez as of last month. While the Padres haven’t yet cut Ramirez, his time in their uniform is likely running out.
I always wondered why SD signed this guy. He’s been bad for a long time.
That is simply not accurate
It kind of his, by looking at his obp and slg he hasn’t been great offensively over the years and has never been great defensively either, he’s just been an average player his whole career.
His first 4 years were actually pretty good but since then he hasn’t been very good.
An average player is not being “bad for a long time”. Alexei had been a 2+ fWAR player for 6 straight years before his awful season prior to FA. So the original comment was way off the mark
Furthermore he has actually been a good defensive SS over his career. The average hitting line for a SS is much lower than league average hitter of a non pitcher overall
He was okay his rookie year, with a 104 OPS+ and 21 homers. His OPS+ in the four years before San Diego signed him: 75, 88, 103, 78. His defense has gone from being passable to dreadful. He used to be a decent base stealer who hit for a bit of power but this year he’s 6 for 15 in steals and has 5 homers in 444 ABs. He’s cooked. It’s just 4 million bucks but still, why not just play a rookie out there and deal with growing pains.
His defense was well above average not passable. He was an average to above average starting SS till 2015. That’s a solid player and far from being bad for a long time
The last time he had a year above “passable” or league average was 2012. That is a long time ago. 4 seasons of declining defense starting with a 1 DRS in 2013 and going downhill fast from there. Even if you are trying to use UZR as your defense of him, he has been below league average since the 2014 season. He has never had a season offensively that was more than 1.0 WAR and that was in 2014 when his defense has fallen under league average and he hit .273/.305/.408. Hardly groundbreaking. So no, he was NOT an average or above average starting shortstop until 2015. That boat sailed much earlier.
You are absolutely correct. Last year he was the worst qualifying shortstop in baseball and he is this year as well. No other shortstop has a negative WAR except Ramirez and this is the 2nd straight year he has held that dubious distinction. He doesn’t do anything particularly well. He can’t hit for average or power. He can’t take a walk. He doesn’t have speed on the basepaths. He doesn’t play good defense.
So tell us. Who plays shortstop for the Padres next year?
Darwin Barney may get released yet again. Doubt the Jays figure he continues to hit at a .270 clip and as a near 5y player and arbitration guy? Not going to give a all glove .250 career singles hitter much more than the 1m they just did.
That’s one example of someone with a better glove than Ramirez and probably more desirable for less with some patience, just hang on and they’ll find someone and Amarista is always around for emergencies.
Darwin will be given every opportunity to be the bench infielder on the jays. There’s no way he gets released, even if goins is in the minors
Because if they hadn’t signed him, every ball that was hit to where the shortstop usually plays would have rolled into the outfield.
What about Amarista? Though he’s not much better.
Exactly
This isn’t really surprising. He was horrendous this year.
Like that he’s got a lollipop in his hand in the picture
As far as the Padres shortstop next year, maybe Rondon. He can’t hit but should be a good glove guy, maybe a Jose Iglesias type. Sardinas is an awful hitter. The Padres had a really good shortstop in their system last year, a guy named Trea Turner. Can’t remember what happened to him…
They traded him for a star 1B you mean?
As for Rondon, no, I’d much rather take a chance on Sardinas who has more defensive upside though has stuff to clean up. Rondon has zero patience, zero speed, zero power, and his hit tool is only 45-50 type fringes with a lot of weak contact.
A star 1st baseman with a sub-.800 OPS?