Brewers, Ramirez face big offseason decisions

Star third baseman Aramis Ramirez is said to want to remain with the Milwaukee Brewers, but several interesting decisions by both the team and player are on the agenda before anything is set.

Ramirez is said by friends to be very comfortable in Milwaukee and also would like to continue in the NL Central, the only division he has known in the majors (he previously played for the Cubs and Pirates). However, a complicated set of steps will need to be played out first.

The Brewers have the first call, which is whether to pick up his $14 million option or buy him out for $4 million. It was written here that seeing as how the gap is $10 million, the Brewers have been planning to exercise that option.

If they do, as expected, Ramirez must then decide whether to trigger his own $14 million option, as that option is said to be mutual. Ramirez would not get the $4 million if he rejects that option, and so that may be an interesting call.

If he rejects the option, the Brewers then would have the option to extend him a $15.3 million qualifying offer. That might be a close call, too, as Ramirez had a nice year in which he hit 15 home runs and batted .285 and made the NL All-Star team again but he didn’t show quite the same power as the past couple years. His .757 OPS was good in a pitcher’s year but quite a bit below his .840 career mark.

The other option would be for the sides to work out a two-year deal, which is something Ramirez might like, considering his love of Milwaukee.

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