Jose Ramirez has been the cornerstone of the Cleveland Guardians franchise since 2016. That was the year he first played over 100 games and even appeared on the AL MVP ballot, finishing 17th. After that 17th-place finish, Ramirez has finished on the ballot eight times in those nine years, with 10th being his worst MVP finish (2023). 2019 was one of the worst years of Ramirez’s career, but it could be viewed as a turning point.

In 2017 and 2018, Ramirez made the All-Star team and finished third in MVP voting both seasons. He hit .318 in 2017 and .270 in 2018. 2018 saw Ramirez mash 39 home runs and drive in 105 runs, and really began to become a known basestealer, nabbing 34 bases that year.

In the shortened 2020 campaign, Jose Ramirez bounced back in a big way from his mediocre 2019, which saw neither an All-Star nor an MVP ballot appearance.

In 2020, Ramirez had 17 homers, 46 RBI, and 10 steals in 58 games. His average was .292, and his OPS was .993. There was no All-Star game that year, but he did have his best finish in the AL MVP voting, with a second-place finish.

The great Sarah Langs wrote on MLB.com that Ramirez is arguably the greatest baseball player to never win an MVP award, to no fault of his own. The American League has been stacked with players who will likely enter the Hall of Fame. How do you compete against an Aaron Judge? Peak Jose Altuve and Mookie Betts? Shohei Ohtani?

It is tough sledding in the American League, but the amount of pure votes that Ramirez has gotten throughout his accomplished career is something to be marveled at. 

This season, Jose Ramirez finished third in the AL MVP voting, behind Cal Raleigh and the winner, Aaron Judge. This was the sixth time Ramirez finished in the top five, and the fourth time he was in the top three. As Langs says, those six top-five MVP finishes tie Eddie Murray for the most without a win. She also mentions it is the second-most top-five finishes among active players, trailing just the great Mike Trout, who has nine, with three of them being wins.

His share of MVP votes is an astonishing 3.61, meaning his average finish for AL MVP is 3.61, almost cementing him as a top-three candidate every season of his career. That number is also the highest of any player to never win the award, meaning he always gets votes but never wins. 

With the odds just being released for next year’s AL MVP, Jose Ramirez is not in even the top six. He has the 7th-best odds to win the award at +1300, trailing Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr., Nick Kurtz, Julio Rodriguez, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 

Jose Ramirez even puts up the advanced metrics. This year was his sixth season, during which Ramirez had a WAR of over 5.5. Only Aaron Judge (7) has more since 2017. In Ramirez’s six top-five MVP finishes, he has 431 extra-base hits, 1,733 total bases, 563 RBI, 166 steals, and a .906 OPS. Those numbers are insane and insanely consistent. 

If Ramirez were ever to win an MVP, it would set a record for the most top-five and top-three finishes for a player before their first win. Miguel Cabrera and Lou Gehrig have the record now with five top-five MVP finishes before their first win.

The current record for top-three finishes before their first win is three, by Paul Goldschmidt, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, and Willie Stargell. As Langs noted, Jose Ramirez already has four top-three finishes, and these records are meant to be broken.

Jose Ramirez is in his age-33 season. He will only have a handful more years of prime output. His chances of winning an MVP award are starting to escape him, especially with Aaron Judge not going anywhere and the emergence of Cal Raleigh in Seattle. 

Ramirez will keep being the best he can be and racking up those MVP votes. Hopefully, his well-deserved time will come to hoist that trophy. If not, he will be the best never to do so.