Nov. 05--The White Sox declined to pick up Alexei Ramirez's $10 million option Wednesday, choosing instead to pay a $1 million buyout that makes the 34-year-old shortstop a free agent.
The Sox's first major offseason decision only leaves the club with more questions, chief among them whether the move actually means they will have a new starting shortstop for the first time in eight years.
Ramirez, who has played all eight of his major-league seasons with the Sox, including the last seven as their shortstop, could re-sign with the Sox for less money. The Sox also could look toward other internal or external options to bridge the gap before top prospect Tim Anderson is ready for his major-league debut.
Sox executive vice president Ken Williams said Wednesday the club is still in the preliminary development stages of their offseason plan and said they will wait until general manager Rick Hahn "surveys the landscape and does due diligence on the possibilities" to fully chart their course. Some of that likely will happen next week at general managers meetings in Florida.
"It would be premature and circumvent our process for me to speak on Alexei other than to say the man came to play every day and there is a long highlight reel that shows just how special a player he has been throughout the years," Williams said.
Ramirez is a career .273 hitter with 109 homers and 542 RBIs since signing with the Sox as a free agent out of Cuba in 2008. He made 150-plus starts at shortstop in each of the last six seasons.
He was an American League All-Star, a Silver Slugger Award winner and a Gold Glove finalist in 2014, but his offense and defense were erratic in the first half of the 2015 season before he rebounded in the second half. He finished with a .249 batting average, 33 doubles, 10 home runs, 62 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 154 games.
The Sox had to weigh the $10 million cost against his diminished results. Ramirez said multiple times during the 2015 season that he would like to finish his career with the Sox, so there remains a chance he would come back at a lower cost, but there figures to be a decent market for a veteran shortstop.
"It's kind of tough because I have been here for eight years, and I like this team," Ramirez said through a team interpreter at the beginning of October. "I like all of the people that work here. They're like my family. I don't want to even think about being on another team. I want to be here, and I want to finish my career here."
Anderson, 22, is projected as the team's shortstop of the future, but he has yet to play above Double A. He had a strong 2015 there, hitting .312 with 38 extra-base hits, 46 RBIs and 49 stolen bases and improving his defense, which has been a point of emphasis.
But the Sox also don't want to rush Anderson's development, and so they could go with a player within their system, such as Tyler Saladino, until he arrives. Saladino is known as a solid defender, but he struggled at times at the plate in his debut season, hitting .225 with a .267 on-base percentage over 68 games.
The Sox added left-handed reliever Zach Phillips to the 40-man roster Wednesday. Phillips, 29, was 1-1 with a 3.13 ERA, 12 saves and 64 strikeouts over 54 2/3 innings with Triple-A Charlotte in 2015.
ckane@tribpub.com
