As the Cleveland Guardians lost in the AL Wild Card series to the Detroit Tigers, the season still marked another productive and successful season for star Jose Ramirez. After Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt won AL manager of the year for the second consecutive year, Ramirez was also award-hunting for MVP, though it would go to New York Yankees star Aaron Judge.
In a crowded AL MVP race with Judge and especially Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, Ramirez finished third in voting as the MLB Network crew sent their praise to the 33-year-old. Gregg Caserta would specifically say how Ramirez has been crucial to Cleveland and how he will have his number retired when it's all said and done.
“Jose Ramirez has been the guy, 13 years in Cleveland,” Ramirez said. “It's a smaller market, he's been their guy. He's taken less money to be there. He's going to have his number retired in Cleveland one day. So six silver sluggers. He's approaching 1000 RBIs. He's at 398, doubles, 285 home runs, a lot of big milestones. Hall Of Fame, I think he's, at this point, he's in, there's no doubt about it.”
“He is going to have his number retired in Cleveland one day.” – @GreggCasertaMLB
José Ramírez has now finished top 5 in MVP voting SIX times over his career!@JakePeavy_22 | @hyphen18 | @CleGuardians pic.twitter.com/fA638o74hi
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 14, 2025
Guardians' Jose Ramirez is a victim of “bad timing”
While news around the Guardians surrounds the situation with pitcher Emmaniel Clase, Ramirez has been the face of the team since starting his career in 2013. Last season, Ramirez hit a .283 batting average to go along with 30 home runs, 85 RBIs, and a career-high 44 stolen bases.
Caserta would speak more on how it's been “bad timing” for Ramirez's chances to get the MVP.
“In terms of history and where he stands in the whole story of this great game. Look at the names here, Eddie Murray, David Ortiz, top five MVP finishes without winning the award,” Caserta said. “Shohei Otani is winning MVPs in Anaheim, he leaves…Now he's dealing with Judge. This guy just can't catch a break, because he is consistently one of the best players, not just in the AL, but in the entire game.”
At any rate, Ramirez and Cleveland look to further improve after finishing with an 88-74 record, which won them the AL Central, but lost to the Tigers in the wild card round, as said before.
