Aramis Ramirez’s 2012 Option Does NOT Vest if He’s Traded

[javy knows my name]

Aramis Ramirez Seeks Multiyear Deal

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [september 12 at 8:54pm CST]

Aramis Ramirez might be the best third baseman available this offseason and he knows it. The 33-year-old told Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com that he’ll be looking for more than the $16MM option that’s on his current contract.

 

"If I hit the marketplace I should end up with a two or three-year deal," Ramirez told Levine. "The reason is, there aren't a lot of third baseman available this offseason. But if [the Cubs] approach me, I'm sure we can get something done. But probably not for one year."

 

 

Ramirez repeated that he wants to stay with the Cubs, who have a $16MM option for 2012. If they choose the option over a $2MM buyout, Ramirez will have to choose whether to accept the option or decline and become a free agent. Since the Cubs don’t have a permanent GM at the moment, it’s difficult to predict how they’ll approach the option or whether they'll have interest in a multiyear extension.

 

 

Heres the latest on Aramis. Nothing earth shattering. I wouldn't be opposed to giving him a 2-3 year deal at a home town discount as long as it means that they plan on picking up some additional pieces to win in the next year or two, otherwise, it's a waste as the team won't be contending in the time he's here.

 

Sounds like he's more concerned with years than money at this point. Really only the article addresses the money aspect. Would he do a 2/20 or 3/27 with us? Would you give it to him? We should be so lucky to get him at 2/20 and I would probably do 3/27 without much hesitation.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Aramis Ramirez Seeks Multiyear Deal

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [september 12 at 8:54pm CST]

Aramis Ramirez might be the best third baseman available this offseason and he knows it. The 33-year-old told Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com that he’ll be looking for more than the $16MM option that’s on his current contract.

 

"If I hit the marketplace I should end up with a two or three-year deal," Ramirez told Levine. "The reason is, there aren't a lot of third baseman available this offseason. But if [the Cubs] approach me, I'm sure we can get something done. But probably not for one year."

 

 

Ramirez repeated that he wants to stay with the Cubs, who have a $16MM option for 2012. If they choose the option over a $2MM buyout, Ramirez will have to choose whether to accept the option or decline and become a free agent. Since the Cubs don’t have a permanent GM at the moment, it’s difficult to predict how they’ll approach the option or whether they'll have interest in a multiyear extension.

 

 

Heres the latest on Aramis. Nothing earth shattering. I wouldn't be opposed to giving him a 2-3 year deal at a home town discount as long as it means that they plan on picking up some additional pieces to win in the next year or two, otherwise, it's a waste as the team won't be contending in the time he's here.

 

Sounds like he's more concerned with years than money at this point. Really only the article addresses the money aspect. Would he do a 2/20 or 3/27 with us? Would you give it to him? We should be so lucky to get him at 2/20 and I would probably do 3/27 without much hesitation.

 

If he wasn't so lazy and preoccupied with roosters, he'd hunt you down and laugh in your face. 3/35 might be plausable, and that's with added incentives. Keep in mind, 3B was once a big offensive positon, but we're seeing a lot of weak bats there now. Ramirez would generate a lot of interest. Beyond Fielder, Pujols, and to a lesser extent, Reyes and Beltran, this is a very weak FA class, and while most teams are set at 1B, a lot could use a 3B upgrade. He could also interest a lot of AL teams as he's closer to his DH years than Fielder and Pujols.

[mul21]

Hell, with the lack of 3B production out there, I'd give him 2/25-26 and not feel bad about it. Saves a few million next year and prevents any thought of rushing Vitters at all.

[Backtobanks]

Hell, with the lack of 3B production out there, I'd give him 2/25-26 and not feel bad about it. Saves a few million next year and prevents any thought of rushing Vitters at all.

 

I'm sure the Cubs would be glad to give him that too, but I have a hunch Ramirez and his agent would laugh in your face at that offer.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If Ramirez were to test the open market, I think that someone would be willing to offer him something along the lines of 3/40-45+incentives considering the FA market and general lack of offensive 3Bs in general.

[BleacherBadger]

He's probably gonna get his current $15/year in the market. For 2 years. From a production/age standpoint, I'm hoping for a Konerko-esque deal 3/39 range.

 

After 2 injured years, he's back to being a top 3 3B producer. Need his bat for the middle of the order.

 

Spend all the rest of the cash on pitching. We're not going to get Pujuols or Fielder.

[mookie]

Not going to get Pujols or Fielder!? Naysayers. Bah.

[Clem Fandango]

Let him walk, sign Pujols for 3B and Fielder for 1B.

 

YAY!

[dew1679666265]

As much as I like Aramis, I still prefer CJ Wilson to him. And Pujols/Fielder is a necessity.

[Outshined_One]

As much as I like Aramis, I still prefer CJ Wilson to him. And Pujols/Fielder is a necessity.

 

I have a hard time seeing how this team competes in 2012 without Ramirez in the lineup. The drop off from Ramirez to the next best available 3B in the free agent market is enormous. Nick Punto or Jose Lopez won't cut it. It's possible someone like Vitters steps up in the next year or two, but there's absolutely no guarantee Vitters will even stick in the majors. Plus, trading for a 3B would be a dicey proposition, considering how much a team would likely have to pay for someone like David Wright or even Maicer Izturis.

 

If the Cubs could trade for a good 3B and/or upgrade at another position (2B or RF) in addition to landing Pujols or Fielder, I'd consider letting Ramirez walk. Otherwise, retaining Ramirez needs to be a priority for the Cubs in the offseason.

[Little Slide Rooter]

As much as I like Aramis, I still prefer CJ Wilson to him. And Pujols/Fielder is a necessity.

 

I have a hard time seeing how this team competes in 2012 without Ramirez in the lineup. The drop off from Ramirez to the next best available 3B in the free agent market is enormous. Nick Punto or Jose Lopez won't cut it. It's possible someone like Vitters steps up in the next year or two, but there's absolutely no guarantee Vitters will even stick in the majors. Plus, trading for a 3B would be a dicey proposition, considering how much a team would likely have to pay for someone like David Wright or even Maicer Izturis.

 

If the Cubs could trade for a good 3B and/or upgrade at another position (2B or RF) in addition to landing Pujols or Fielder, I'd consider letting Ramirez walk. Otherwise, retaining Ramirez needs to be a priority for the Cubs in the offseason.

 

If the options are Nick Punto and Jose Lopez, you stick with Flaherty, LeMahieu, or even Vitters. The 3B market is weak enough that Wilson Betemit could land something like a 3/25 deal, and I hope to God that we're not the ones giving it to him.

[Guest]

As much as I like Aramis, I still prefer CJ Wilson to him. And Pujols/Fielder is a necessity.

 

I have a hard time seeing how this team competes in 2012 without Ramirez in the lineup. The drop off from Ramirez to the next best available 3B in the free agent market is enormous. Nick Punto or Jose Lopez won't cut it. It's possible someone like Vitters steps up in the next year or two, but there's absolutely no guarantee Vitters will even stick in the majors. Plus, trading for a 3B would be a dicey proposition, considering how much a team would likely have to pay for someone like David Wright or even Maicer Izturis.

 

If the Cubs could trade for a good 3B and/or upgrade at another position (2B or RF) in addition to landing Pujols or Fielder, I'd consider letting Ramirez walk. Otherwise, retaining Ramirez needs to be a priority for the Cubs in the offseason.

 

It doesn't seem like it would be that hard to get all three salary wise simply by backloading the FA deals handed out a bit. Make the first year for Wilson/Fielder/Pujols less like the Soriano deal and when their salaries go up for the 2013 season, Z's $19M will come off the books.

[CubColtPacer]

As much as I like Aramis, I still prefer CJ Wilson to him. And Pujols/Fielder is a necessity.

 

I have a hard time seeing how this team competes in 2012 without Ramirez in the lineup. The drop off from Ramirez to the next best available 3B in the free agent market is enormous. Nick Punto or Jose Lopez won't cut it. It's possible someone like Vitters steps up in the next year or two, but there's absolutely no guarantee Vitters will even stick in the majors. Plus, trading for a 3B would be a dicey proposition, considering how much a team would likely have to pay for someone like David Wright or even Maicer Izturis.

 

If the Cubs could trade for a good 3B and/or upgrade at another position (2B or RF) in addition to landing Pujols or Fielder, I'd consider letting Ramirez walk. Otherwise, retaining Ramirez needs to be a priority for the Cubs in the offseason.

 

It doesn't seem like it would be that hard to get all three salary wise simply by backloading the FA deals handed out a bit. Make the first year for Wilson/Fielder/Pujols less like the Soriano deal and when their salaries go up for the 2013 season, Z's $19M will come off the books.

 

I'm not sure that will even be enough to keep payroll from going up. That would partially depend on if Pena's 5 million is on the 2012 budget or not and it would also partially depend on if the Cubs are planning on keeping relievers like Samardzija and Wood.

[dew1679666265]

I have a hard time seeing how this team competes in 2012 without Ramirez in the lineup. The drop off from Ramirez to the next best available 3B in the free agent market is enormous. Nick Punto or Jose Lopez won't cut it. It's possible someone like Vitters steps up in the next year or two, but there's absolutely no guarantee Vitters will even stick in the majors. Plus, trading for a 3B would be a dicey proposition, considering how much a team would likely have to pay for someone like David Wright or even Maicer Izturis.

 

If the Cubs could trade for a good 3B and/or upgrade at another position (2B or RF) in addition to landing Pujols or Fielder, I'd consider letting Ramirez walk. Otherwise, retaining Ramirez needs to be a priority for the Cubs in the offseason.

 

It may or may not be enough, but my plan would be to let Aramis walk and then sign two of Wilson/Pujols/Fielder. You'd replace Aramis at third with a platoon of Baker (~.900 OPS v lefties) and probably Flaherty. There's a good chance you're still getting league average or better production at third (despite an obvious dropoff) and you significantly upgrade at 1st and top of the rotation.

 

If it's enough to compete next year, great - and I think it could be. However, it's a better long term plan as well since Aramis would be here for 2-3 years max (and possibly declining in that time) while Pujols/Fielder would be here 6-10 years and Wilson would be here 4-5 years (and likely in his prime given his minimal mileage on his arm).

[Little Slide Rooter]

All I know is that Carlos Pena and Aramis Ramirez are both type Bs(still not sure whay Aramis is a B while Placido Polanco and Jeff Keppinger are As), so arbitration could land us a few draft picks if the both skip town.

[Guest]

There's no guarantee that the Cubs can sign Wilson. The Red Sox and Yankees will be looking for pitching. Pujols and Fielder are tough gets too. The Cubs should not let Aramis walk on hope of getting 2/3 of the best free agents available.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

There's no guarantee that the Cubs can sign Wilson. The Red Sox and Yankees will be looking for pitching. Pujols and Fielder are tough gets too. The Cubs should not let Aramis walk on hope of getting 2/3 of the best free agents available.

 

If we're so lucky that the Yankees set their sites on Wilson then the Cubs should go balls out and make a run at Sabathia.

 

The Red Sox might be a legit runner at Wilson, but there's the chance they're not. They have Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz locked in and then arms like Miller, Wakefield, Bedard, Weiland, and whoever else for 5.

 

I think both teams will be less active on Wilson than imagined, but teams like the Mets, Nationals, and others we'd never expect will try to throw the wrench in the Cubs' plan.

 

It's easy to ignore now bc we don't know what it'll look like, but keep the trade market in mind. I expect it'll be busy this offseason.

[Backtobanks]

There's no guarantee that the Cubs can sign Wilson. The Red Sox and Yankees will be looking for pitching. Pujols and Fielder are tough gets too. The Cubs should not let Aramis walk on hope of getting 2/3 of the best free agents available.

 

If we're so lucky that the Yankees set their sites on Wilson then the Cubs should go balls out and make a run at Sabathia.

 

The Red Sox might be a legit runner at Wilson, but there's the chance they're not. They have Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz locked in and then arms like Miller, Wakefield, Bedard, Weiland, and whoever else for 5.

 

I think both teams will be less active on Wilson than imagined, but teams like the Mets, Nationals, and others we'd never expect will try to throw the wrench in the Cubs' plan.

 

It's easy to ignore now bc we don't know what it'll look like, but keep the trade market in mind. I expect it'll be busy this offseason.

 

Yeah, teams that have improved this year like the Nationals could be very involved with some big-name FAs. Also there's teams like Toronto and Baltimore that could get involved in some of the bidding for the big names.

[dew1679666265]

There's no guarantee that the Cubs can sign Wilson. The Red Sox and Yankees will be looking for pitching. Pujols and Fielder are tough gets too. The Cubs should not let Aramis walk on hope of getting 2/3 of the best free agents available.

 

Should the Cubs have the mentality that we should immediately settle because we might get outbid? Assuming we don't decrease payroll (which all of this is based on anyway), we'll have as much as or more than anyone else to spend this offseason. It's certainly no sure thing that we'll get 2 of the top 3 free agents on the market, but I don't think we should throw in the towel without an effort either.

[Guest]

There's no guarantee that the Cubs can sign Wilson. The Red Sox and Yankees will be looking for pitching. Pujols and Fielder are tough gets too. The Cubs should not let Aramis walk on hope of getting 2/3 of the best free agents available.

 

Should the Cubs have the mentality that we should immediately settle because we might get outbid? Assuming we don't decrease payroll (which all of this is based on anyway), we'll have as much as or more than anyone else to spend this offseason. It's certainly no sure thing that we'll get 2 of the top 3 free agents on the market, but I don't think we should throw in the towel without an effort either.

Settle? Aramis is the best 3rd baseman in the league and you want to let him walk hoping that some platoon can almost produce at his level and the Cubs can sign 2 of the 3 best FA.

 

Keep Aramis and get Fielder. Have the new GM kiss and make up with Z so they don't have to pay him to play somewhere else and use some minor league chips to get a fifth starter.

[dew1679666265]

Settle? Aramis is the best 3rd baseman in the league and you want to let him walk hoping that some platoon can almost produce at his level and the Cubs can sign 2 of the 3 best FA.

 

Aramis is also 33 years old, has had extensive injury issues, and will want big money over probably 3 years. I hate being critical of Aramis as he's probably been my favorite Cub over his career, but he's more than likely going to be regressing over the course of any new deal and will be less valuable to the team each year.

 

A platoon of Baker/Flaherty would be less productive than Aramis going into next year for sure, but it can still be better than league average and freeing up Aramis' salary allows us to make a significant upgrade in the rotation - which this team really needs with major question marks in 3 of the 5 rotation slots. By settling, I mean a very good, but old and injury prone third baseman is not as good an option as a legit top of the rotation starter with very little mileage on his arm. Re-signing Aramis wouldn't be a bad move per say, but it's not the optimal move.

 

Keep Aramis and get Fielder. Have the new GM kiss and make up with Z so they don't have to pay him to play somewhere else and use some minor league chips to get a fifth starter.

 

Even if we bring Z back, there's plenty of reasons (laid out very well by CCP in multiple threads) to think he's going to decline to some degree - possibly a lot - starting next year. Couple that with major question marks surrounding Wells' viability going forward and who we'll put in the fifth rotation slot (Cashner? McNutt? JJackson? There's not a lot of reason to be confident in any of them being quality arms next year).

 

The rotation after Garza and Dempster has the potential to be a major problem next season and signing Wilson adds some much needed stability to that rotation. There's certainly a real chance we may miss out on him, but we also have as much as or more than anyone else to spend on FAs this offseason - we have a very legitimate chance to land both Fielder/Pujols and Wilson and I think we should try. If it doesn't work, then you readjust at that point, but you don't pass up two great long term options simply because it'll be difficult to sign both.

[Little Slide Rooter]

There's no guarantee that the Cubs can sign Wilson. The Red Sox and Yankees will be looking for pitching. Pujols and Fielder are tough gets too. The Cubs should not let Aramis walk on hope of getting 2/3 of the best free agents available.

 

Should the Cubs have the mentality that we should immediately settle because we might get outbid? Assuming we don't decrease payroll (which all of this is based on anyway), we'll have as much as or more than anyone else to spend this offseason. It's certainly no sure thing that we'll get 2 of the top 3 free agents on the market, but I don't think we should throw in the towel without an effort either.

Settle? Aramis is the best 3rd baseman in the league and you want to let him walk hoping that some platoon can almost produce at his level and the Cubs can sign 2 of the 3 best FA.

 

Keep Aramis and get Fielder. Have the new GM kiss and make up with Z so they don't have to pay him to play somewhere else and use some minor league chips to get a fifth starter.

 

We don't need a 5th starter. If you're thinking to give up a few minor league chips for a "5th starter", chances are what we end up with isn't any better, probably worse than Cashner and Wells. From the get go, our problem wasn't that we didn't have good back of the rotation guys, it's just that we had a very bad backup plan in case of injury and we ended up sending out Casey Coleman, James Russell, Doug Davis, Ramon Ortiz, and Rodrigo Lopez. Say what you will about keeping Carlos Silva, but he probably would have been just as bad. What we need is a front end starter.

[Backtobanks]

Settle? Aramis is the best 3rd baseman in the league and you want to let him walk hoping that some platoon can almost produce at his level and the Cubs can sign 2 of the 3 best FA.

 

Aramis is also 33 years old, has had extensive injury issues, and will want big money over probably 3 years. I hate being critical of Aramis as he's probably been my favorite Cub over his career, but he's more than likely going to be regressing over the course of any new deal and will be less valuable to the team each year.

 

A platoon of Baker/Flaherty would be less productive than Aramis going into next year for sure, but it can still be better than league average and freeing up Aramis' salary allows us to make a significant upgrade in the rotation - which this team really needs with major question marks in 3 of the 5 rotation slots. By settling, I mean a very good, but old and injury prone third baseman is not as good an option as a legit top of the rotation starter with very little mileage on his arm. Re-signing Aramis wouldn't be a bad move per say, but it's not the optimal move.

 

Keep Aramis and get Fielder. Have the new GM kiss and make up with Z so they don't have to pay him to play somewhere else and use some minor league chips to get a fifth starter.

 

Even if we bring Z back, there's plenty of reasons (laid out very well by CCP in multiple threads) to think he's going to decline to some degree - possibly a lot - starting next year. Couple that with major question marks surrounding Wells' viability going forward and who we'll put in the fifth rotation slot (Cashner? McNutt? JJackson? There's not a lot of reason to be confident in any of them being quality arms next year).

 

The rotation after Garza and Dempster has the potential to be a major problem next season and signing Wilson adds some much needed stability to that rotation. There's certainly a real chance we may miss out on him, but we also have as much as or more than anyone else to spend on FAs this offseason - we have a very legitimate chance to land both Fielder/Pujols and Wilson and I think we should try. If it doesn't work, then you readjust at that point, but you don't pass up two great long term options simply because it'll be difficult to sign both.

 

I think the platoon you mentioned being less productive than Aramis is the understatement of the year. Flaherty is an unproven rookie and Baker is really a downgrade in the power department.

[dew1679666265]

I think the platoon you mentioned being less productive than Aramis is the understatement of the year. Flaherty is an unproven rookie and Baker is really a downgrade in the power department.

 

Baker career v lefties: .533 SLG/.894 OPS

Aramis career v lefties: .528 SLG/.877 OPS

 

I'll concede that Flaherty is unproven and definitely a big question mark entering the year, but he'd only be facing righties in this scenario which should help his productivity. If he proves to not be ready, we have LeMahieu and DeWitt who can be tried in that role and I'd be all for seeking out a left handed hitting platoon option in FA/trade as well if the money is there.

 

Really, though, if Baker can produce as he has throughout his career against lefties, you don't need a huge year out of his platoon partner to get better than league average (.706 OPS) production at third. Obviously we want to shoot higher than middle of the pack and I think this platoon can.

[Tarver]

There's no guarantee that the Cubs can sign Wilson. The Red Sox and Yankees will be looking for pitching. Pujols and Fielder are tough gets too. The Cubs should not let Aramis walk on hope of getting 2/3 of the best free agents available.

 

Should the Cubs have the mentality that we should immediately settle because we might get outbid? Assuming we don't decrease payroll (which all of this is based on anyway), we'll have as much as or more than anyone else to spend this offseason. It's certainly no sure thing that we'll get 2 of the top 3 free agents on the market, but I don't think we should throw in the towel without an effort either.

Settle? Aramis is the best 3rd baseman in the league and you want to let him walk hoping that some platoon can almost produce at his level and the Cubs can sign 2 of the 3 best FA.

 

Keep Aramis and get Fielder. Have the new GM kiss and make up with Z so they don't have to pay him to play somewhere else and use some minor league chips to get a fifth starter.

 

Ricketts already stated Z will be dealt.