Ramírez etched his name in Guards lore. Is HOF next?

CLEVELAND -- When José Ramírez signed a long-term contract extension with the Guardians in 2022, among the objectives he mapped out was to one day earn a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, representing Cleveland.

With the forthcoming finalization of his new seven-year extension with the Guardians, how is Ramírez progressing toward that goal?

He’s well on track.

Ramírez’s new extension will span through 2032, his age-39 season and his 20th big league campaign. At that point, he would tie Mel Harder’s franchise record for the most consecutive seasons played in a Cleveland uniform.

• Rock a José Ramírez jersey to the ballpark in 2026

Ramírez’s résumé already includes seven All-Star Game nods and six Silver Slugger Awards. Under his new deal, he could solidify himself as the most decorated player in franchise history. Just consider Ramírez’s ranks in myriad key categories on Cleveland’s all-time leaderboard.

Games played: 1,609 (3rd)
bWAR: 57.6 (4th among position players)
Runs: 1,001 (3rd)
Hits: 1,668 (7th)
Doubles: 398 (3rd)
Home runs: 285 (2nd)
RBIs: 949 (2nd)
Steals: 287 (2nd)
Extra-base hits: 726 (1st)

Ramírez should already safely have a future spot reserved in the Guardians’ Hall of Fame. Obviously, there’s different criteria for induction into Cooperstown, but he’s also trending well there as he approaches Year 1 of his new contract. Consider how Ramírez compares to third basemen who have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame, via key context from our great MLB.com research team.

• Ramírez has a career 131 OPS+. That would tie him with Wade Boggs for sixth among primary third basemen who are already in the Hall (minimum of 50 percent of games played at the hot corner). Ramírez would rank ahead of Hall of Famers such as Ron Santo (125), Scott Rolen (122) and Adrian Beltré (116).

• Through his first 13 big league seasons, Ramírez has more bWAR than several Hall of Famers had at the same point in their career, including Beltré (52.4), Paul Molitor (49.9) and Brooks Robinson (42.8).

• Ramírez has recorded eight seasons with at least 4.0 bWAR, which is one fewer than Santo, and two fewer than Robinson and Beltre logged in their careers, among primary third basemen in the Hall.

Ramírez, of course, must continue to produce in the coming seasons to bolster his already impressive figures. But he is comparing favorably to a slew of Hall of Famers, and has been a continued force for the Guardians in his early 30s.

The slugger (who will turn 34 on Sept. 17) has logged consecutive seasons with at least 30 doubles, 30 homers and 40 stolen bases. Long one of the game’s best modern power-speed threats, he’s close to becoming the ninth player in MLB history to record 300 home runs and 300 steals in their career.

Just 15 homers and 13 steals shy, Ramírez could then push to join Barry Bonds (762 homers, 514 steals) as the only players in the 400-400 club.

Ramírez has not yet won an AL MVP Award, an honor that is a common résumé point for Hall of Famers. But as MLB.com’s Sarah Langs detailed in November, he is perhaps the best player who has not taken home that hardware.

Ramírez has finished in the Top 5 of AL MVP Award voting six times, including the Top 3 in four seasons. He has a 3.61 share of the MVP vote, which is most among players who have not earned the honor.

Ramírez is already an iconic figure in the storied history of Cleveland sports. One day, his No. 11 will hang at Progressive Field, and he will forever be immortalized in bronze with a statue at the ballpark.

If he keeps trending the way he has, immortality in Cooperstown will follow his legendary career in Northeast Ohio.