The Cleveland Guardians graduated from playoff hopeful to bonafide American League contenders in 2024.
They boast the best bullpen in the league, they have Shane Bieber, Tanner Bibee and other talented starters, and a blossoming group of position players plus more on the way.
It’s fair to say, however, that they wouldn’t have gone as far as they did without Jose Ramirez.
Ramirez is not only the Guardians’ best player by a mile, he is also comfortably a top ten player in MLB.
In fact, projections have him in the top ten in FanGraphs’ version of Wins Above Replacement (WAR), checking in at the ninth position.
An early look at the hitters' 2025 WAR projection leaders, via @fangraphs. pic.twitter.com/PnDwnbSc8z
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 5, 2025
Only Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Mookie Betts, Julio Rodríguez, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Shohei Ohtani are projected to finish ahead of J-Ram when it comes to WAR.
That speaks volumes about Ramirez’s status as one of the game’s most underrated starts.
It’s also notable that he, at 32, is hanging with guys in his prime five or seven years younger than him.
Far from slowing down, Ramirez put together one of the finest campaigns of his career, posting a .872 OPS and finishing one home run short of a 40-40 season.
He won a Silver Slugger award and was a Gold Glove finalist.
More importantly, he was the best player on a roster that made it all the way to the American League Championship Series.
Projections system have Ramirez still near the top of the league.
He is the Guardians’ heart and soul and remains the key to how far they will get this year.
NEXT: Guardians Pitcher Is Already Helping The Next Generation Of Hurlers
