(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The Cleveland Guardians announced, on Tuesday, a seven-year extension with All-Star second baseman Andres Gimenez.
The new deal is worth $106.5 million and has a club option for another season.
The Guards, once criticized for not spending enough money on their payroll, have now locked up a young star for the second consecutive offseason.
Jose Ramirez, a perennial MVP candidate, and Gimenez now represent the present and the future for the organization.
In fact, they were both elite performers in 2022.
“#Guardians will have two of the top 6 American League MVP vote getters for 2022 under contract through the end of the decade,” Cleveland sportswriter Daryl Ruiter tweeted.
#Guardians will have two of the top 6 American League MVP vote getters for 2022 under contract through the end of the decade.
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) March 28, 2023
Ramirez, who hit 29 homers and had a .869 OPS last year, finished fourth in the AL MVP voting behind the three finalists: Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, and Yordan Alvarez.
Gimenez was not far behind: he was sixth, a shocking development for the 24-year-old.
The baseball universe understood he had potential, but few people saw him as a 6-WAR player so early in his career.
He finished just behind fellow Venezuelan Jose Altuve in the MVP vote, and ahead of stars such as Julio Rodriguez, Mike Trout, Xander Bogaerts, and Justin Verlander.
With 17 home runs, 20 stolen bases, a .837 OPS and stellar defense at the keystone, Gimenez was one of the Guardians’ best players in their magical 2022 campaign.
He helped his team advance to the postseason and actually win a playoff series.
There are reasons to believe he can continue to get better as a hitter, so the sky is the limit for the newly-extended infielder.
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