CLEVELAND, Ohio – In the world of pro sports, where loyalty is increasingly rare, José Ramírez stands as an anomaly.

The Guardians’ star third baseman has maintained his commitment to the organization despite numerous opportunities to chase bigger paydays elsewhere.

Now, despite having three years remaining on his current deal, cleveland.com columnist Terry Pluto believes the Guardians should reward their franchise cornerstone with another contract upgrade.

“The Guardians should do two things. No. 1 is Jose’s got three years left on his contract: $21, $23, $25 million. You’ve got to jack that up, rework it,” Pluto said during the latest Terry’s Talkin’ podcast. “You could add a fourth year and move a bunch of money up front or something. Just go ahead and do that.”

This isn’t uncharted territory for the Guardians. The organization previously reworked Ramírez’s contract when he was approaching free agency in 2022, securing him on a team-friendly deal that keeps him in Cleveland through 2028. That precedent, according to Pluto, eliminates any organizational resistance to restructuring an existing contract.

“You already reworked this contract once, so don’t do the, ‘Oh, we don’t redo contracts,” Pluto said. “When you’re Jose Ramirez and you’re a Hall of Famer, that would be my answer: ‘Yeah, we do it for future hall of Famers.’ ”

What makes Ramírez’s situation particularly unique is his personal approach to contract negotiations. Unlike many players who might feel pressure from the players’ union to maximize their earnings, Ramírez has always charted his own course.

“Jose’s always operated on his own agenda,” Pluto said. “One thing we could tell about Jose, he doesn’t care what anybody thinks.”

This independence was evident when Ramírez chose to remain in Cleveland rather than testing free agency. The decision surprised many across baseball, but perfectly aligned with his personality.

As Pluto said: “Jose didn’t care about any of that stuff. You could talk to them all you want. It’s like, ‘Look, man, I’m going to play where I want to play.’ ”

The financial adjustment wouldn’t need to be astronomical to make an impact. Pluto said,

“You could take another $12 to 15 million and spread it over that contract. It still doesn’t come anywhere close to market value. But it’s a way of saying, ‘Look, Jose, you matter to us and we love you.’ ”

The gesture would represent more than just financial compensation — it would be a symbolic acknowledgment of Ramírez’s importance to the franchise. The image of Ramírez exuberantly running around with the Central Division flag after clinching this season perfectly captures his significance to the team. As Pluto described it, “It’s almost like, ‘I dragged these guys up this mountain and I’m planting the flag,’ and he sort of did.”

The second part of Pluto’s plan involves adding a right-handed power bat to complement Ramírez in the lineup. The Guardians’ system is flush with left-handed hitters but lacks right-handed power. Similar to how Cleveland targeted starting pitching last offseason, Pluto believes the organization needs to focus on addressing this offensive need through trades.

By committing to both actions, the Guardians would demonstrate their dedication to building around their cornerstone while addressing the team’s most glaring weakness.

Here’s the podcast for this week:

If you have a question or a topic you’d like to see included on the podcast, email it to sports@cleveland.com, and put “Terry’s Talkin’” in the subject line.

You can find previous podcasts below.

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