José Ramírez has spent years building the kind of Cleveland résumé that doesn’t need much decoration. Now it’s getting a pretty big one anyway.
Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter recently assembled Mt. Rushmores for 33 major sports cities, and Cleveland’s four names came out to LeBron James, Joe Thomas, Myles Garrett, and Ramírez. The list was limited to accomplishments from the 2000 season onward, and Reuter only counted what each player did while wearing that city’s uniform.
For Ramírez, the placement is a nod to something Cleveland fans have known for a long time: he has been one of the city’s steadiest stars, even if the trophy case doesn’t tell the whole story.
Reuter emphasized how often Ramírez has shown up in the MVP discussion without ever winning the award.
“Despite never taking home the hardware, Ramírez has finished in the top 10 in AL MVP voting eight times in the last nine years. He has three 30/30 seasons on his resume and has quietly piled up 60.1 career WAR, which stands 16th all-time among third basemen,” Reuter wrote.
Those numbers explain why he belongs in the conversation with some of Cleveland’s biggest names across different eras and franchises. Ramírez has done it all in one uniform, spending his entire career in Cleveland instead of chasing a different market or a bigger stage.
He’s also still adding to that legacy. Ramírez is working his way back from a hamate fracture that has kept him out of the Guardians’ lineup in recent weeks, and once he returns he’ll jump back into the middle of a tight division race.
For now, the Mt. Rushmore nod serves as another marker of just how far his impact reaches beyond this season.
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Former Guardians Starter Just Hit A Brutal New Low
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Civales struggles have been a mix of poor results and bad health, with a rough run since coming back from the injured list and an earlier shoulder issue that knocked him off track in late May. For Cleveland fans who remember him as a dependable part of the rotation, seeing him get pushed into this kind of uncertainty is a stark reminder of how quickly a pitchers value can change when performance and injuries both start piling up. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Fans Know Exactly The Deadline Move Cleveland Rarely Makes
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The bigger question is whether the Guardians would be willing to pay the kind of price that usually comes with a useful, controllable hitter this time of year. Cleveland has been careful about preserving prospect depth, and with several teams showing interest, any pursuit would likely come with real competition. That is where the deadline gets tricky for this front office, because the fit is easy to see, but the cost is the part they rarely rush to meet. [Read more 🡒]
One New Deal Just Changed The Guardians Conversation On Bazzana
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Burns new seven-year deal with Cincinnati has added another layer to the conversation, giving clubs around the league a fresh example of how quickly a top young talent can be secured. For the Guardians, the question is no longer just whether Bazzana fits into their future, but whether the timing and structure of a deal can be worked out before the market, and the sports labor picture, make the decision even more complicated. [Read more 🡒]