On Monday, the Guardians completed a trade for Mariners relief pitcher Yohan Ramirez.
TRADE: The Seattle Mariners have traded Yohan Ramirez to the Cleveland Guardians for cash considerations or a player to be named later, per @mandybellmlb. Welcome to the Land, Yohan!
–#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/3VXm9OK4Zk— Guardians Nation™ (@GuardsNation) May 16, 2022
Cleveland sent cash to the Mariners in exchange for the righty.
The return received by Seattle is a sign of Ramirez’s production.
That is to say, Ramirez has not been excellent this season.
Nonetheless, the Guardians will hope Ramirez can become a contributor to a bullpen that’s been average all season.
Here are three things fans need to know about the newest Guardian:
1. The Good
Ramirez has some promise.
He’s not a diamond in the rough by any stretch.
Instead, he’s more like…agate in the rough.
Agate, for those non-amateur geologists out there, is the sometimes shiny, multi-colored gem that flashes just enough excitement.
And on the right night, like the mineral, Ramirez is a strong and decent arm.
Initially in the Houston system, he was picked up by Seattle in the Rule-5 Draft back in 2019.
As a rookie in 2020, he posted a 2.61 ERA in relief for the Mariners.
Further, that season, Ramirez regularly threw a 96 MPH fastball and struck out batters at almost a 28% clip.
Over the course of his Mariners career, Ramirez earned 25 runs in almost 57 innings of work (3.97 ERA).
Not bad, but certainly not diamond level.
2. The Bad
But also like agate, most of the time it’s not particularly worthwhile.
Despite showing flashes, Ramirez has failed to build on his rookie season in any meaningful way.
He did better to improve his control, but he’s a home run magnet.
In 25 appearances last season, Ramirez was responsible for almost two home runs per nine innings.
And so far this season, the long ball struggles seem to have continued.
Across eight and a third this season, Ramirez has already coughed up three homers.
Things got so desperate for Seattle that the club demoted Ramirez to the minors before DFA-ing him Friday.
That homer number is particularly scary for the Guardians.
The team will have to play the Minnesota Twins many, many times this season.
And who leads off for the Twins?
Only one Byron Buxton.
You may have heard of him.
He sits second in the majors in home runs, aka Ramirez’s kryptonite.
And it’s not just homers that have plagued Ramirez.
In his rookie season, Ramirez walked over 20% of the batters he faced.
2020 peripherals for Yohan Ramirez. Control obviously a MAJOR issue but a low risk move with some talent to work with. Could be interesting. pic.twitter.com/XQQEtkmHgY
— Emmet Humenik (@emmethumenik1) May 16, 2022
Initially, the Mariners hoped Ramirez could be a middle-innings eater capable of bridging the gap between the starter and closer.
But a walk rate like that makes that move impossible.
So the Guardians aren’t exactly getting Josh Hader in this deal.
3. The Outlook
Don’t expect to see Ramirez this week.
He was optioned to AAA-Columbus after the trade.
It’s a smart move that will let Ramirez get his feet wet in Cleveland’s system before seeing real action.
And this week is as good as any for Ramirez to miss some time.
The Guardians kick off a two-game series against the Cincinnati Reds before welcoming the Detroit Tigers to town.
Both are rebuilding clubs that the Guardians will (hopefully) handle.
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