Analyst Raises A Big Question About Jose Ramirez’s Future

The 2026 MLB season, for the Cleveland Guardians at least, ended on Monday when they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series. They took the AL champs to six games, but threw away a 2-1 series lead and dropped three straight to seal their fate.

Now, the Guardians are left with more questions than answers. They know they should be back in the postseason in the foreseeable future, but are they good enough to go all the way? That will depend almost entirely on the roster they put on the field.

Mike Axisa of CBS Sports put together an off-season primer for Cleveland, examining specific questions such as potential extensions, Steven Kwan’s future, and more.

He also touched on a sensible topic for Guardians fans: Jose Ramirez’s current level. Is he declining already? Is he still a star? How much did the hamate bone surgery affect his performance?

“Is José Ramírez still a star?” Axisa wrote. “This past season, third baseman José Ramírez became the Guardians’ franchise leader in games played (1,734) in what turned out to be his worst season since becoming a regular in 2016. Ramírez went from MVP candidate in 2025 to just OK in 2026. For more reasons than one, the Guardians have to hope Ramírez’s down 2026 was a result of the hamate injury and not the start of a trend.”

Ramirez is 34 years old, so it wouldn’t be crazy to expect at least some decline. In the first couple of months prior to his hamate bone fracture, he put up a 110 wRC+: solid, but not quite All-Star level like we are used to seeing from him.

Once he returned from his five-week stint on the injured list in July, his power was completely gone. He finished the season with a 92 wRC+ and a .368 slugging percentage, his lowest marks since 2015.

Fortunately for the Guardians, J-Ram woke up in the postseason, which leads us to believe that the hand will be fine with a full off-season of rest. In October, the star third baseman slashed a powerful .293/.396/.512 with a couple of homers and a 152 wRC+. That’s more like it.

So, to answer the original question, we would need to see how he fares next season, at least for a few months, having left the injury behind him. There’s a chance he experiences a huge rebound year in 2027, though, just as he could completely tank.