Jeff Passan reminds MLB world how important José Ramírez is to Guardians’ success

Any conversation about the Cleveland Guardians’ lineup has to begin and end with José Ramírez. 

Although the Guardians have a variety of young prospects who could become mainstays in the lineup this summer, no player on the roster means more to the Guardians’ title hopes than Ramírez, who is clearly the best third baseman in baseball. 

And the amount of pressure on Ramírez gained a bit of steam on Friday when ESPN MLB insider Jeff Pessan put out his preview for the 2026 MLB season, where he focused on the most important player from each team’s roster.

And, unsurprisingly, he picked Ramírez as the most important player on the Guardians. 

The Guardians’ offseason inaction means there’s even more pressure on Jose Ramírez

As pointed out by Passan, the Guardians made marginal additions to their offseason despite finishing last season 29th in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage last season. 

Part of the reason for that is because the Guardians’ front office wants to give prospects like Chase DeLauter and George Valera an opportunity to become key cogs in the lineup.

But it’s still surprising they didn’t add some kind of veteran reinforcement outside of signing Rhys Hoskins at the start of spring training. 

The good news for the Guardians is that Ramírez has been pretty unstoppable in the 2020’s. Ramírez has earned MVP votes in six straight seasons and has won four of the past six American League Silver Slugger Awards at third base. 

He’s been incredibly consistent and impacts the game with his glove, bat and legs. In short, he’s everything you want in a superstar. But, as Passan wrote, he hasn’t gotten a ton of help from the Guardians’ front office as of late.

But he could get some help from Chase DeLauter, who Passan believes could end up being the second-best hitter in the Guardians’ lineup when the 2026 season is said and done. 

The biggest thing that could impede DeLauter’s ability to help the Guardians in 2026 is his ability to stay on the field, as he hasn’t played in more than 57 games in any of the three minor league seasons he’s played in. 

DeLauter had a minor injury pop up earlier that spring that kept him off the field for a little less than a week, but he returned to the Guardians’ lineup and has been mashing ever since. 

It can be tough not to take Ramírez for granted since he does everything well and keeps taking team-friendly contract extensions, but seeing arguably the biggest name in MLB media shine a light on just how little the Guardians’ did to provide Ramírez with some reinforcements.