When Jose Ramirez signed a five-year, $124 million contract to remain with the Cleveland Guardians, he showed an inordinate amount of loyalty to remain with the team that gave him his big chance to fulfill his dream of becoming a star player in the Major Leagues.
Ramirez shocked the baseball world because he could have probably commanded upward of $200 million from a real MLB juggernaut that spends big in free agency.
For this moment in time, Ramirez has forever cemented his place in Guardians’ lore as one of a fan favorite, perhaps the greatest positional player to ever don a Cleveland uniform.
I admire him for that, but my only question now is where is the return loyalty?
It has apparently meant zero to Cleveland ownership.
Ramirez showed great faith and loyalty in signing that contract at a time when very few players would do such a thing, yet the organization has shown absolutely no interest in reciprocating that loyalty.
When someone shows you that kind of loyalty, it is common sense that it is shown in kind.
Yet Cleveland brass has done no such thing.
Rather than saying, ‘Hey Jose, we truly appreciate what you’ve done for us and for the city of Cleveland, and we’re going to do the same for you by surrounding you with talent that can compete at the best level in the big leagues,’ they surrounded him with subpar talent that would struggle to thrive at Triple-A.
Cleveland currently boasts a bunch of retreads, never-weres and wannabes that collectively have struggled to post any type of effective MLB production this season.
Jose Ramirez deserves better than that.
Loyalty is a two-way street, and thus far what we’ve seen from Cleveland’s front office has been one gigantic slap to the face of Ramirez.
I know it’s not my money that’s being spent, and I give Cleveland ownership every grace in spending whatever they deem necessary to make some money in putting out their product.
It’s their team. They can do what they feel is necessary in terms of bringing in talent, and that’s their right.
But to witness what Ramirez did for this team, only to throw a bunch of slop back in his face is a disgusting act.
Perhaps the most loyal thing they could do for Ramirez now is to trade him to a team that would be willing to give him a chance at a title because surrounding him with a group of guys with a combined .224 batting average is appalling.
Cleveland is currently hacking away at that ugly clip, good for 29th out of 30 MLB teams, ahead of just the lowly Chicago White Sox. Actually, take Ramirez’s bat out of the equation and the Guards are behind even Chicago.
This wouldn’t bother me so much if it weren’t such incredible disrespect toward Ramirez to experience what he did only to see his team show to him that loyalty simply doesn’t matter.
Ramirez is regarded as the most underappreciated and least recognized all-star in the game today. Why is that? Because he toils in obscurity for a team unwilling to show the same class and style he has in the loyalty game.
Maybe the best way to teach this organization a lesson in loyalty — or at least to show them the error of their ways — is for fans to do the exact same thing the Guardians have done and kick loyalty to the curb by not attending games.
Perhaps then they would realize how badly they’ve mistreated the one player in Major League Baseball who showed enough heart, enough class, and enough sacrifice of ego and cash to remain loyal to his team.
Will that happen?
Probably not.
Cleveland ownership has shown its hand too many times before, having gutted last season’s team that gave fans the ride of a lifetime because of the unity the guys had with one another.
Was it a dream season?
You bet, one made possible because the guys loved playing for one another.
They were loyal to each other.
Then the brass sent Andres Gimenez packing. They sent Josh Naylor packing. They let Matthew Boyd slip away. All guys who were at the heart of the joy of the game in Cleveland.
That was their answer to loyalty.
Jose, we all appreciate your incredible act. You’ve woven yourself firmly into all Guardians fans’ hearts for life.
But you sure do deserve a better fate than to experience the unloyal act of the team you proved yourself so loyal to.
