Cleveland Guardians fans were overjoyed when they learned that Jose Ramirez would likely play his entire career for their team, thanks to his new contract extension. But there may be one group of people who were even more pleased by the news: his teammates.
Not only is Ramirez one of the best players in the sport, which gives the Guardians a chance to win any game, but he is also recognized as an icon whose off-the-field gifts may surpass his on-the-field talent. He is the face of the franchise that any MLB team would want.
With that in mind, teammate Austin Hedges recently gushed about the Guardians star, comparing his day-to-day excellence to Superman.
“I’ve never seen someone put on a Superman cape every single day like he does. He’s one of the smartest human beings I’ve ever met. He keeps to himself a lot, so not everybody really knows that. There is intellect behind everything he’s doing, talent-wise. He’s truly probably the smartest baseball player I’ve ever played with. The way he can impact a game in every single way. Whatever way is necessary, that’s the one that he taps into. We should have to pay money to have a seat in the dugout to watch him play every day. We have the best seat in the house to watch this guy play every day. One of these years, he’s going to win [MVP],” Hedges said.
"We should have to pay money to sit in the dugout and watch him play."
Here's 90-seconds of #Guardians Austin Hedges gushing over teammate José Ramírez
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The Guardians have an unfortunate history of their best, Hall of Fame-bound players leaving the organization before the end of their careers. That was a growing concern about Ramirez, especially after he expressed some displeasure following last season that the Guardians didn’t surround him with the talent that they promised after he took a hometown discount on his previous contract extension so they could do so.
Instead, he decided to commit even further, agreeing to a seven-year deal that runs through the 2032 season, when he will turn 40 years old. It is worth $175 million, which may be an even bigger discount than before, considering the exploding nature of MLB contracts and his value in relation to other highly paid players around the league.
Since 2017, his fifth season in the majors, Ramirez has finished in the top five of AL MVP voting six times. He was the runner-up to Jose Abreu in the shortened 2020 season, and last season finished third for the third time, behind Cal Raleigh and back-to-back winner Aaron Judge.
In addition, Ramirez is ranked at No. 5 on MLB Network’s Top 100 list for 2026. He is coming off consecutive 30-30 seasons, and with a third in a row would join Barry Bonds as the only other player in history to accomplish that feat.
Now, all that’s left for Ramirez to do is to help the Cleveland franchise win its first World Series championship in almost 80 years.
NEXT: Jose Ramirez Sends Heartfelt Message About Being A Guardian
