Despite Aramis Ramirez' agent, Paul Kinzer, saying that Ramirez won't give up his no-trade clause, rumors continue to swirl around the Cubs third baseman. (Of course, when you're hitting .345/.387/.782 with 7 homers in the month of July, that's bound to happen).
The team with the most interest appears to be the Angels as Nick Cafardo and Ken Rosenthal have both reported.
Ramirez reiterated again this week that "Right now I'm not interested in a trade". The key words being "right now". We saw Derrek Lee go through this last year and eventually get traded (in August).
The biggest issue for Ramirez appears to be his family and being away from them for an extended period of time (if he were traded). As a family man, I can understand that. However, weighing against that is the chance to go to a contender and possibly play in the World Series.
Chances are that, as we get closer to the end of the season, Ramirez' stance may change and an August trade is a possibility. The problem is, unlike Derrek Lee last year, its unlikely that Ramirez will clear waivers in August and the Cubs may lose some leverage as a result.
It will be an interesting situation to watch going forward, as Ramirez is now the Cubs' biggest trade chip and the one player who can garner them some top prospects in a trade.
Who ya gonna replace him with at 3d or in the lineup? NOBODY.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it matter? The difference between losing 92 games with Ramirez and losing 95 without him isn't that important.
ReplyDeleteGet Sandberg now and clean house. Why does management and owners sit on there asses and do very little.
ReplyDelete