Aaron Boone is sick and tired of hearing about how underrated José Ramírez is.
So sick, in fact, that the Yankees manager has contemplated dismemberment when presented with such descriptions of the Guardians’ third baseman.
“I get on people all the time,” Boone began Sunday. “If I hear another ‘how underappreciated, underrated he is’ from somebody on a network or something – I want to rip my arms off and throw them at the TV. He’s not underappreciated. He’s not underrated. He’s a great, on a Hall of Fame track player, and everybody knows it, including everyone sitting out here.”
Boone was just goofing around with his talk of self-mutilation, but he was making a serious point with his Yankees starting an ALCS matchup with Cleveland on Monday.
Ramírez, now in his 12th season, has finished in the top-10 in MVP voting in six of the past seven years. That span includes two top-three finishes and a runner-up placement in 2020, as well as six All-Star selections and four Silver Sluggers.
The switch-hitting Ramírez is coming off one of his best seasons, as he tied a career-high with 39 home runs while adding 39 doubles, 118 RBI, a 141 wRC+, 6.5 fWAR and a .279/.335/.537 slash line. At age 32, he also set a personal best with 41 stolen bases.
With numbers and accolades like that, Boone called Ramírez “the complete package.” Yet people often seem to overlook Ramírez when discussing the game’s best players.
“It’s almost like when someone starts talking about him, you have to mention how underappreciated he is,” Boone said in disbelief. “It’s incredible. It’s like when a broadcaster goes on a show, and they always introduce him as ‘the great so and so’ is coming on. It’s like it’s part of the sentence.”
Boone wasn’t the only manager working to dismiss Ramírez’s underrated reputation on Sunday.
When told of his counterpart’s impassioned praise, Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt acknowledged that people in some circles view Ramírez that way. Just not anyone who knows what they’re talking about.
“If you ask anybody working in baseball, they don’t think he’s underappreciated or any of that,” Vogt said. “He’s one of the elite players in this league. He’s a top-five player in this league every year. In baseball circles, everyone knows about it and talks about it.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Rodón, the Yankees’ Game 1 starter, called Ramírez “one of the better players in our game.”
Ramírez only hit .188 in Cleveland’s ALDS bout with the Tigers, but he had three RBI in the series and crushed a solo home run in Game 4. The Guardians won that contest by a run, which forced a decisive Game 5.
Entering the ALCS, Ramírez is a .236/.299/.357 hitter with three home runs and 15 RBI over 37 postseason games.
“When José’s going, there’s nobody better,” Vogt said. “I think that’s the beauty of José. He’s one swing away at all times. There’s not one set of eyes that isn’t locked in on him when he’s at the plate. He’s electric.”
Boone completely agrees, and he made sure everyone listening knew that on Sunday.
“Switch hitter, power, great base runner, great defender at third. He’s a great all-around player, period,” Boone said with his limbs still attached. “He creates some problems. Hopefully we can keep him quiet enough, but I think he has the utmost respect from everyone in the game and very much is not underrated.”
