Why the Seattle Mariners Should Trade for Jose Ramirez

The Seattle Mariners are in the market for a third baseman this offseason, as Kyle Seager’s option is almost certainly not being picked up. This leaves a hole at third base for the first time in a decade for the Mariners. However, this is an exciting time for Mariners fans and there is a superstar third baseman out there who the Mariners should be interested in this offseason: his name is Jose Ramirez.

Jose Ramirez has been an absolute stud at third base for the Indians the last several years, and he is only going to be playing his age 29 season next year. Contract-wise, Ramirez has two club options left on his contract for $12 and $14 million the next two seasons. The Mariners would be getting an MVP-caliber player for two years, but he would most certainly need to be extended in Seattle beyond the two years.

The Mariners are going to have to give up a haul that will hurt. It is not going to be a light trade where the Mariners give up prospects that fans don’t love. They will have to send multiple top 10 prospects to Cleveland. There is immense surplus value since Ramirez is not only under contract for 2 years, but he is incredibly cheap and is a perennial MVP candidate.

Here is a snapshot into how valuable Ramirez would be as a free agent, and explains some of the reasoning for the trade cost for Seattle:

With Ramirez’s price in mind, here are a few trade options the Mariners should consider:

A Pitching Heavy Return for Cleveland

Jose Ramirez is an absolute superstar in Major League Baseball. He is coming off of a 6.3 WAR season, according to Fangraphs, and has also had a WAR above 3.5 every season since 2016. This includes a little bit of a down year in 2019, as well as a shortened season last year. Ramirez is not only an offensive star having had an OPS of .893 last season, but is also a good defender too; he had 7 outs above average last year according to Baseball Savant, which was better than stud Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford.

For Cleveland, they get a future shortstop or third baseman in Noelvi Marte who projects to be a Manny Machado-type player. They also get three future rotation options with Hancock, Williamson, and Phillips. Hancock is coming off of a short season, but was the 6th overall pick in 2020 and has four good pitches. Williamson got to Double A last year and was dominant while he was there. Phillips, the #8 prospect in the Mariners’ system, also has promise as a 20-year-old right-hander.

This is a way for the Mariners to get Ramirez, as Cleveland would gain 3 potential rotation arms who would be cheap and controllable players for a long time. Cleveland is a low-payroll team that does not like to spend money, and can trade Ramirez to get a haul of pitching pieces to build their team for the future.

Bolstering Cleveland’s Position Player Depth

Jose Ramirez truly is a special player, as he was the AL MVP runner-up in 2020 and was 3rd in 2017 and 2018. He is a switch hitter and would give the Mariners an overall offensive monster. This season, he was 41% better than league average with an OPS+ of 141 according to Baseball Reference, and he would be the best offensive player for the Mariners by far going forward.

Here, Cleveland get Noelvi Marte, who is a potential future Jose Ramirez-level player. Again, Hancock has value as a #3 or better starter who could reach the big leagues by the end of next year. In this deal, they also get outfielder Zach DeLoach, who profiles as a good 3rd or even 4th outfielder in the best outfields. They also get Harry Ford, who is young but gives them a solid prospect down the road.

This deal gives the Indians more of a balanced, offensive-centered trade package. They get an infielder in Marte who is a few years away still but is very talented. They get an outfielder in DeLoach who reached AA this year, as well as Hancock, who could get to the majors by 2023. Ford is very far away but has lots of promise as a catcher or another position.