As much as it seems like Ramirez is gone for good...I can't help but think about what I would do if I were in his shoes. There are essentially 2 options he either wants to be a Cub, or he doesn't. Assuming he wants to be a Cub he still should take advantage of other teams driving up the price. It's not like if other teams drive up the price he can't still sign with the Cubs. He got the clause for a reason, I don't see why he wouldn't take advantage of it. He can be using this opportunity to see what other teams are willing to offer in order to get a market-value deal from the Cubs. It's not like the Cubs are going to say "nevermind, now that you're a free agent we don't want you anymore." He knows they need him and they should be willing to pay as much as it takes. How likely is this, I'm not sure. Assuming he doesn't want to be a Cub...well who can blame him?