Chicago White Sox: Potential Trade Bait
By Brett Pnazek
Alexei Ramirez
Jun 17, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez (10) makes a throw to first base against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Ramirez for his career plays a position that isn’t very strong in terms of guys who play it well.
He’s a career .274 hitter but is hitting a paltry .230 but is also 1 year removed from being an All-Star as well as the American League’s Silver Slugger winner.
Contractually he has a team option next year with a 1 million dollar buyout.
He’s making 10 million this year but if a team were to trade for him they’d only be on the hook for about half.
Ramirez could provide an upgrade for numerous teams. The team that may be most interested in pursuing his talents would be the Seattle Mariners. Brad Miller is their current shortstop and he isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire.
Other teams that may be interested could include the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Ramirez could be nothing more than a half year rental and with his offensive numbers being below average this year he wont command top level talent.
As mentioned above the Mariners would be a viable trade partner and the Sox could reasonably expect a guy like Mike Montgomery as well as a mid level prospect in return.
The Sox have Tim Anderson waiting in the farm system but I think he still needs some more seasoning before he gets the call. In the short term someone like Carlos Sanchez or Leury Garcia could fill in at short with the other guy playing 2nd.