The Cubs have acquired outfielder Harold Ramirez from the Guardians in exchange for cash, per a club announcement out of Chicago. Ramirez was one of seven players designated for assignment in Cleveland last Friday. The Cubs now have 38 players on their 40-man roster.
Ramirez, 27, made his big league debut with the Marlins in 2019 and earned quickly made himself into a Miami fan favorite with a mammoth first season in the Majors. In May 2019, Ramirez slashed .368/.419/.474 — understandably endearing himself to those who follow the Fish.
It’s been a steady decline since that point, however, as Ramirez has posted just .264/.299/.400 (86 wRC+). Ramirez has solid bat-to-ball skills but rarely walks and chases outside the zone far too often. Since 2019, Ramirez’s 43.6% chase rate on pitches off the plate is the ninth-highest mark among 340 players with at least 500 plate appearances. His .134 isolated power (slugging minus batting average) during that time ranks 281st in the same subset, placing him well shy of the league-average — particularly relative to his corner outfield peers.
Ramirez joins Michael Hermosillo as a right-handed-hitting bench option for the Cubs, though he doesn’t have the typical platoon splits one might expect. His numbers against lefties (.275/.315/.400, 92 wRC+) and righties (.270/.306/.408, 90 wRC+) are nearly identical. Defensively, Ramirez has appeared at all three outfield spots but is best-suited for work in either left field or right field.
Ramirez is out of minor league options, so the Cubs will either need to break camp with him on the Opening Day roster next year or else expose him to waivers. He’ll compete for a bench spot in Spring Training, but it also stands to reason that Chicago could be in the market for outfield upgrades this winter, which could complicate Ramirez’s path to a roster spot.
davidk1979
Lol!! Where’s the Marlins fan that says Ramirez is better than Nimmo?
Chipper Jones' illegitimate kid
Ramirez is the epitome of replacement level player. He’ll probably hit 6th in the new Cubs lineup.
louwhitakerisahofer
Replacement level talent on this Cubs roster may make them more of a clean up hitter!
The Mets "Missed WAR"
Knowing the Cubs the Guardians probably just tricked them into thinking they acquired Jose Ramirez. I’m not gonna lie. When I first read that the Guardians traded Ramirez Harold was not the first player to pop in my mind.
PeteWard8
The Flubs are at it again.
Maybe will get serious after Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
jdgoat
That was big ooof at the time, downright hilarious that somebody actually believed that now. There’s homerism, and then there’s that.
ChiSox_Fan
Dumpster diving even after Theo is gone!
CubsWin108
seems like somebody is jealous the cubs have had a better offseason then the White Sox have.
ChiSox_Fan
Oh really?! Graveman!!
Hahn just getting started!
iml12
Jed appears to be much better at his dumpster diving. A 27 year old switch hitter that has had mlb success for cash. Not a bad flyer.
Avory
NOT a switch hitter.
clotty
Funny. They went dumpster diving for Tepera and no one heard the Southside complain when the Sox acquired him.
Backup Catcher to the Backup Catcher
Can’t believe this signing generated over 100 comments. Fourth or fifth outfielder at best. Probably gonna see a number of this type of player suiting up for the Cubs this summer. Now Cubbies have to go bottom fishing for some starting pitchers. Gonna be a long summer for Cub fans.
ryrockak
It’s because people are obsessed with talking crap about the Cubs
to4
He’s no better than Nimmo for sure, but he has some potential. Whom ever said that however, must be as high as a kite !
MarlinsFanBase
He is better than Nimmo.
BuJoBi
He has the potential to be better then Nimmo….But not there yet
Oldman58
Can’t wait to see the look on Jed Hoyers face when he realizes they traded for Harold Ramirez not Jose Ramirez
Sheep8
Or Hanley!
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Or Harold Reynolds.
rememberthecoop
Or Harold Ramos!
Chipper Jones' illegitimate kid
or Harold Ramis!
macian
Need to call Ronan
davidk1979
Better than Nimmo amirite?
In nurse follars
Maybe he will have better luck. He played with energy, unlike Eddie Rosario, and delivered some decent moments. A high hope low expectations guy. Good luck.
CubsWin108
unlike Eddie Rosario? Your saying World Series MVP Eddie Rosario did not play with energy or deliver some moments?
Magnet Salesman
I believe Jorge Soler won the WS MVP…..
FredMcGriff for the HOF
Braves fans are extremely happy with Eddie Rosario and his NLCS MVP performance. One of the best trades the Braves ever made.
Thesecondjamie
Guardians popping off today
DarkSide830
Great pickup
rememberthecoop
** sarcasm alert **
** sarcasm alert **
CubsWin108
yep I love these moves.
Samuel
All Guardians. All day.
They seem to be moving guys to open roster spots.
Can a signing of one of Correa / Seager and one of Scherzer / Gausman be far behind?
After all, they’re getting all that money from their new merchandise that says “Guardians” on it.
(Unless the fans put some duct tape labeled “Guard” on top of the “In” on their current merchandise.)
sgtschultz
Let the dumpster diving begin….
Treehouse22
Sorry to hear that you are hungry enough to go to this extreme. Take care, Sir. Happy Holidays. May 2022 be better for you.
Rsox
Can play all three OF spots and will probably out hit Heyward. Cubs could do worse
solaris602
Hated to see CLE cut ties with HRam. He was a big improvement over most of the flotsam and jetsam they’ve trotted to the OF over the past several seasons.
Treehouse22
@RSox Not to Mention that he is a career .271 hitter and his batting splits (R/L) are virtually identical. That makes for a very solid 4th OF, if not starter. I was hoping my Bucs would pick him up to compete for a starting OF job, but the Cubs could also use a guy like him.
Avory
@Rsox
You meant to say he can’t play ANY of the three OF spots, right?
The guy is an absolute butcher with the glove and has no arm to speak of either.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
1. Davis
2. Happ
3. Ortega
4. Heyward
5. H. Ramirez
6. Hermosillo
I could see Ramirez getting playing time until Davis is called up, time to prove himself.
solaris602
Willson Contreras: “Dude, I haven’t been traded yet. Or were you gonna bat me 7th or 8th?!!!!”
egrossen
He’s talking about the Cubs outfielders, not batting order.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Exactly I was ranking OF depth only not batting order.
solaris602
Roger that – misunderstood. MLBTR should take a poll asking when Contreras is most likely to be dealt. Any thoughts, Cubs fans?
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Contreras, Wisdom, Schwindel and Hoerner all will have big roles. Though yes Contreras may want to read MLB Trade Rumors from time to time.
egrossen
I’ll be very interested in watching Nick Madrigal as well.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Yes Nick Madrigal should start as soon as he is 100 percent. If the Cubs can get a couple of decent starting pitchers they could easily win 75 or so games. I am just not sure that it will happen.
xxbooradley
Wow I had no idea that the name of a baseball team meant so much to so many. Guess it’s a good thing I have the option to not read the comments anymore if they’re going to be this ignorant.
solaris602
Yeah, the new name is just meh, I agree. But I just scroll past these inane arguments until
I get to something worth reading.
Texas Outlaw
I read that as Manny Ramirez.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
I resemble that remark.
cleribe
I’ve been a life long Cleveland fan, but we aren’t even pretending about caring about fielding a competitive team. It’s hard to watch.
CKinSTL
Did you misread the article? It is Harold Ramirez, not Jose Ramirez..
hockeyjohn
Harold Ramirez is not a good player and is no great loss for the Guardians. Cleveland has an excellent farm system and it was much more important to protect one of their better prospects so they were not lost in the rule 5 draft.
As far as fielding a competitive team, you must have been missing the last decade.
From 2013 through 2020, Cleveland won more games than every other MLB team except the Dodgers. That is pretty competitive in my book..
msqboxer
An addition to the “Land of Misfit Players” look forward to see him increase his out of zone chase rate.
User 3044878754
Great trade for the Guardians. What position does Cash play? Or is he a pitcher?
cars
The Cleveland Danny Greene’s! If the Cubs were smart, instead of spending 40MM to 50MM on players to finish in 3rd or 4th place. Save the $$ for next seasons FA’s, still finish 3rd or 4th place and TRY TO DEVELOP more high quality MLB ready players, since they only have 1Brennen Davis. Then spend!
CluHaywood
At least its the Cubs doing it. Just wait until Clint Frazier is the South Side’s new, everyday RF.
cars
Chicago Cubs bloggers make Ramirez sound like a great pick up for the Cubs. Unbelievable!! Knowledge at its best.
Polish Hammer
$83.57 plus a gift card to Target with a $33.95 balance?