The Chicago White Sox announced this week that the team has
declined the $10 million option on shortstop and former All-Star Alexei Ramirez.
The team will instead pay the Cuban-born star a $1 million buyout thus making
him a free agent. With the Yankees uncertainty on the bench and the team’s
constant need to upgrade, even marginally, would Ramirez be worth signing and
putting on the bench at the expense of a $1 million DFA in Brendan Ryan?
Ramirez is currently 34-years old and has played his entire
MLB career with the Chicago White Sox after defecting from Cuba. Ramirez is a
career .273 hitter with 109 career home runs and 542 RBI in eight seasons.
Ramirez was an All-Star as recently as 2014 but age, Mother Nature, a bad White
Sox team around him, a lack of motivation or a combination of the four key
items here contributed to Ramirez falling off in 2015. Ramirez finished the
season batting a career-low .249 with 10 home runs and 62 RBI leading the team
to buy out his contract. Would Ramirez be an upgrade over Ryan?
The Yankees presumably have two things in mind this season
while they are building their bench. They need defensive versatility,
flexibility and ability while also looking to add some right-handed pop into
the lineup somehow, someway. Ryan has been considered to be a defensive wizard
over his career but I haven’t seen it the last two seasons with the ball club.
Ramirez is not going to win you any Gold Glove Awards anytime soon but the
offensive edge goes to Ramirez and it’s not even close. Ramirez can play
shortstop and third base, the two positions the Yankees need backup help at the
most, albeit not as well as Ryan but well enough to justify carrying his bat
for 162 games.
Would Ramirez accept a bench role and a spot on the Yankees?
That remains to be seen but I can’t see the Ryan contract of $1 million
stopping the Yankees from upgrading if they can. If that upgrade brings Ramirez
to the Bronx, great. If it doesn’t then Ryan isn’t half bad himself in a small
sample size I guess.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)