The Cleveland Guardians showed something by making it back to the AL playoffs this season.
Now, it’s time to build on that momentum.
President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti recently opened up about Jose Ramirez’s comments on his contract and the team’s path to winning a championship.
“As I said, our goal each year is to try to find a way to win a World Series. We’re fortunate to have a player like Jose on our roster. That’s a great building block, but we want to continue to improve the quality of the group around him and help them grow and develop to be able to not only get into the postseason, but win a World Series,” Antonetti said.
Is the Jose Ramirez hometown discount runway shrinking??? #Guardians pic.twitter.com/LZ8Qh9ou3v
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) October 7, 2025
Ramirez has said that he only agreed to take less money in his 2022 contract extension so the team could spend elsewhere to build a good team around him.
While the All-Star third baseman didn’t say his teammates weren’t good, he stated that the front office didn’t hold up its end of the bargain, so he’s not going to give the Guardians another discount when it’s time for a new deal.
Of course, that opened the door for speculation, with some wondering if those comments could signal the end of the road for Ramirez with the organization.
The front office doesn’t feel that way, but it has to make sure to satisfy the Guardians’ best player, and that will only happen if they spend on talent this offseason.
Yet, that has never been how the organization goes about its business.
If anything, they could aggravate Ramirez further by trading Steven Kwan, most likely because the All-Star outfielder knows he’s worth more than what the Guardians are willing to pay him as he seeks an extension.
This team is built to win, and it has a promising collection of young players.
But unless the Guardians are willing to spend to acquire and keep some veteran talent as well, this might be as far as they can get.
NEXT: Guardians Named Favorites To Sign Interesting Catcher Prospect
