The Cleveland Guardians have been linked to outbound moves involving multiple star players during the 2025 season.
Shane Bieber is the lone ex-Guardian to leave thus far after being dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays ahead of MLB's July 31 trade deadline. Rumors also swirled about the team potentially trading away Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase, both of whom have multiple years of club control, but no sufficient offers materialized.
If the Guardians have reportedly expressed interest in moving Kwan, a two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner, what does that mean for José Ramírez — a seven-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner in his own right? A reporter covering the team recently set the record straight on the club's long-term plans for the third baseman.
Guardians are not expected to trade Ramírez anytime in the near future
Veteran Guardians beat writer Paul Hoynes produces a weekly mailbag column titled "Hey, Hoynsie!" where Cleveland.com readers ask him questions about the club.
Virgil Houser, one of those readers, did not send Hoynes a question in last weekend's edition of the column, opting to write a brief statement instead. Houser was interested in what Hoynes had to say about an acute observation he noticed about a former player.
"When Josh Naylor was in Cleveland as a member of the Seattle Mariners recently, he said something that every fan should take note of. He said that most of the players on the Guardians know they’re going to be traded," Houser wrote. "Championships are built on stability, and the Guardians will never have that with the current ownership."
In his response, Hoynes refuted Houser's claim and mentioned Ramírez as a player he expects to remain in Cleveland for the foreseeable future.
"If you’re a talented ballplayer with the Guardians, and you don’t sign an extension (and sometimes even if you do), you’re going to get traded as you move closer to free agency. That’s their business plan and they’ve been successful with it in terms of winning division titles and making regular appearances in the postseason," Hoynes wrote.
"Those are tough choices to make for the front office. There are few exceptions, Jose Ramirez being one of them."
Keeping Ramírez around has proven to be a good decision for the Guardians, a team that has reached the postseason seven times in his first 12 big-league seasons. The Guardians could improve that mark this year, but they currently sit 2.5 games out of the American League's third wild card spot, which is currently held by the Mariners.