Blue Jays: Prospect cost is too steep to trade for Jose Ramirez

All winter long, there were rumours and speculation that the Blue Jays were going after third baseman Jose Ramirez, and I was a big supporter of the move at the time.

Besides the fact that Ramirez was an MVP candidate in years past, the Blue Jays had six different players start at least eight games at third base and outside of Santiago Espinal, were subpar in the position.

Last week, the Blue Jays acquired three-time Gold Glove winner and power bat Matt Chapman from the Oakland Athletics.  Shortly after the deal, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Blue Jays had discussions with the Guardians about still acquiring Ramirez with the idea of moving him to second base.

While it would be really nice to add Ramirez into the line-up and he would be an upgrade at second, I believe the cost to move him wouldn’t be worth how much it would upgrade the value.  Right now, the Blue Jays have both Espinal and Cavan Biggio battling for the second base spot, with Biggio likely being the everyday player that fills the role. It is time to move on from the Blue Jays acquiring Jose Ramirez.

Early speculation from different people around baseball had several of the Blue Jays’ top prospects, such as Gabriel Moreno, Jordan Groshans, and Orelvis Martinez, as being required to bring in Ramirez to the Blue Jays to play third base.  Prior to acquiring Chapman, I would say that the hole at third base was so apparent that the trade would make sense.  However, that is not the case with second base.

Biggio is coming off an injury-filled 2021 season, and before last year, he collected 33 doubles and 24 home runs while posting a slash line of .240/.368/.430. He also went 20 for 20 in stolen bases in 159 career games.  Biggio has the potential to hit 30 home runs in a season, at minimum be a consistent 20 home run player, and if the club was moving on from him, they would be selling while his stock is at its all-time low.

Throughout the winter there were talks about acquiring Jose Ramirez for third base and recently for him to play second base, but it is time for the Blue Jays to move on.

I believe Ramirez is one of the best players in the game, but also feel that the upgrade from Biggio to Ramirez wouldn’t be worth the cost of all the top-end prospects that would have to go the other way.  I would rather start the season with Biggio at second base; and if he isn’t able to bounce back, pay the price later at the deadline to bring in a Ramirez-type player.

How about you, would you still try and bring in Ramirez and have him as the second basemen?