It’s late February and Harold Ramirez is still a Ray. Will he stay?
PORT CHARLOTTE — It is 8:04 a.m. and the clubhouse doors are open. The day’s schedule is posted on the bulletin board, the bat manufacturers are pimping their wares and a Rays employee is checking with players to confirm their in-season walk-up music.
Oh, and Harold Ramirez still has a locker.
Maybe that’s not a surprise, but it is a point of interest. Of all the rumors about Tampa Bay’s offseason to-do list — reducing payroll by dealing Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot, coming up with an alternate plan at shortstop, clearing some 40-man roster spots — trading Ramirez is one box that has remained unchecked.
It’s not that the Rays need to deal Ramirez or even look forward to trading him. It’s just part of the landscape for a low-revenue team that needs to look at payroll-versus-value as an ongoing question. Once he became arbitration-eligible, with the resulting increase in salary in 2023, the possibility of a trade became far more realistic.
In fact, when he arrived at camp last season, Ramirez joked that he was surprised to still be around.
The likelihood of a trade was bound to increase this past winter as Ramirez’s salary grew to $3.8 million, despite losing his arbitration case earlier this week.
“I really just (try to) forget about that,” Ramirez said after a workout Wednesday afternoon. “Now, I’m here. I’m just going to give my 100%, play hard. They’ll make a decision; I can’t do anything about that.”
That doesn’t mean Ramirez is living in denial. He’s heard the rumors, he knows the score.
“Yeah, because a lot of people posted (it) on Instagram, Twitter. I get to see it,” he said. “But I really don’t care. I’m here now, like I said before, so let’s play.”
To be fair, the case for trading Ramirez, 29, is not limited to the accounting department. While he has hit .306 across his two seasons in Tampa Bay, Ramirez is a liability defensively. While his playing time was split fairly equally between designated hitter and first base/outfield in 2022, he started only 13 games in the field in 2023 with 86 starts at DH.
For a team that values defense and versatility, Ramirez’s limited options in the field are a hindrance.
And, to his credit, Ramirez recognized this. He lost 15 pounds in the offseason and played some centerfield in winter ball in both Colombia and Venezuela with an eye toward wearing a glove a little more often in 2024.
“I really want to play some defense,” he said. “When I play defense, I can help the team more to win more games.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash said the weight loss was noticeable, and he’s going to do his part to give Ramirez a better chance at increasing his value.
“He’s going to play a lot of outfield during spring training. We’ll get him a lot of reps,” Cash said. “I know he got kind of — as much my fault as anybody — pigeonholed or pinned in the DH spot. He’s so good at it. But that probably wasn’t ideal, just not getting more consistent reps. (Will he be) constantly out there? To be determined. But we can definitely do a good job this spring of getting him reps in the outfield where he can continue to improve his game.”
To some degree, this has been the story of Ramirez’s pro career.
He was traded, became a minor-league free agent, was waived and purchased by five different organizations before the Rays got him from the Cubs in the spring of 2022 for Esteban Quiroz. Teams tended to undervalue Ramirez because of his defensive shortcomings and his lack of power.
But the ability to put the ball in play has always been evident — in parts of 10 minor league seasons, he had a career batting average of .304 — and the Rays leaned in to that skill. They took advantage of his elite numbers against left-handers (a .373 batting average in 2022-23), and with a slightly more pronounced launch angle he doubled his home run total to 12 last season.
Still, that $3.8 million salary is starting to grow more noticeable for a player who doesn’t provide a lot of versatility in the field and doesn’t always play against right-handed pitchers. The likelihood of a trade probably increased this week when the Rays signed Amed Rosario, who also hits left-handers well and provides more versatility in the field. With Jonathan Aranda slated to get at-bats at DH, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Ramirez moved at some point this season.
With his ever-present smile, Ramirez said he has not made it a point to talk to Cash or anyone else about trade possibilities.
“I’ve been through it like five times,” he said. “That’s part of the business.”
It is 11:54 a.m., and Harold Ramirez still has a locker.
John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.
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