Aramis Ramirez Picks Up Option, Returning for 2015

I spent most of last week writing about Aramis Ramirez. I reviewed his season; I discussed his contract options and the rarity of both sides picking up a mutual option. I spent even more time thinking about Aramis Ramirez. How many games will he play? Is age catching up to him?

All that was put to rest this morning when it was announced that Ramirez followed the Brewers lead and picked up his option for the 2015 season.

The option will pay Ramirez $14 million next year which is a slight decline from his $16 million salary in 2015 (but some of that is deferred money). That decline will, on paper, make up some of the increase in the salary difference from Marco Estrada to Adam Lind.

Of the possibilities for Ramirez going into this offseason, I thought that both teams picking up his option was the least likely. If Ramirez is honest about his stated goal to play another 500 games, riding a one-year contract through his age 37 season seems like a bad idea.

But it appears that he and Milwaukee couldn’t work out an extension for extra years, and he and his agent felt his best option was to come back to Milwaukee for the guaranteed money rather than test free agency in a year when Chase Headley and Pablo Sandoval are both available.

Between this move and the trade for Adam Lind it looks like we’re gearing up for a fairly quiet offseason for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers have no question marks on the field or in the starting rotation anymore, that means their offseason needs are going to come down to a few things: a corner infielder who hits right handed, a middle-infielder who hits right handed, and some bullpen arms.

The corner infielder and middle infielder positions could both be filled by internal options, such as Jason Rogers and Hector Gomez. That just leaves a lot of bullpen spots waiting to be filled.