The Hot Corner: Aramis Ramirez

After a brief hiatus from taking a look at the various players who will be starting for the Chicago Cubs, we return to examining those who will be taking the field day in and day out. Today, the focus is placed on the third baseman for the Cubs, Aramis Ramirez. Just like he has been in every previous year, he is one of the two biggest cogs in the offensive machine. If this team is to go anywhere this year, Ramirez will be one of the major driving forces leading the way. If he is unable to come back to form, and return to the level we have become used to seeing him perform, then this season will be a lost cause.

Ramirez just has not been the same since injuring his shoulder early in the 2009 campaign in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers. He missed a few months, but when his shoulder was rehabilitated and he was able to get back into the everyday lineup, he eventually returned with a bang. He looked like the Ramirez of old, and even came close to what his career statistics say he should be at, if you were to expand them to a full season. In the mind of the Cubs fans, all was well and he would be fully prepared to deliver a traditional Ramirez year in the 2010 season. As you all know, that just did not happen.

Last year, Ramirez stumbled out of the starting gate, and put up the worst offensive year of his professional career.  He was racking up strike outs at a rapid pace, and leaving runners on base and quickly deflating the hopes of the fans. He was quickly becoming thought of as an automatic out every  time he stepped into the batters box, that is how bad things got for him. He fell so far in the hearts and minds of some Cubs fans, that he was placed in the same category as fans place Carlos Zambrano, Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome; overpaid for a much too long contract. Personally, I am not one of these fans who believe this about any of those players, but who am I to argue and tell someone their opinion is wrong?

Thankfully, for his sake, Ramirez was able to put together a pretty good end of the season. He started showing signs of snapping out of his season long funk, and began looking like the Ramirez of old; granted he did so in garbage time when the Cubs were all but eliminated, but he showed signs of being back in form.

For those of you who believe in the myth of the contract year explosion of stats (I do not believe in this myth, but I wont begrudge those of you who do), this is your time to see just how real that idea is. Technically, Ramirez is in a contract year who needs to convince the Cubs to pick up his $16 Million dollar option for the 2012 season. In order for the Cubs to do this, Ramirez needs to return to his 30 plus home runs with 100 plus RBI. If the Cubs are going to contend this year, those are the stats he must put up. This is a very simple win win scenario for both sides. If Ramirez earns his option year in the Cubs eyes, the chances are very good that the team is in contention. However, the opposite is also true. If he does not live up to expectations and fails to earn his option year,  the Cubs are likely out of the running for the division title.

Cubs Manager Mike Quade has already announced that Ramirez will be hitting cleanup for the Cubs in 2011, which is a great place for him. With his typical power and run producing skills, there could not be a better place for him, again if he is the Ramirez we have all come to know and love. While the nickname belongs to Jeff Samardzija, I have taken to calling Ramirez “shark”. The reason behind this, is because when he is in form, he smells RBI on the bases like a shark smells blood in the water. He is an RBI chaser, whom most teams would give anything to have in the heart of their order. Thankfully, for the 2011 season, Ramirez is still a member of the Cubs, and will anchor their offense.

For this season, I honestly see Ramirez having a rebound year. Not because he is in a contract year, but because he is a tremendous offensive force. With Marlon Byrd hitting in front of him, and Carlos Pena behind him, Ramirez is surrounded by talent and should have plenty of opportunity to deliver a standout offensive year. I can easily see him returning to the 30-100 campaign that we are used to seeing. That is not my wearing my Cubs colored glasses, that is an honest assessment of what I think he can and will do in the year to come. I think he will do more than enough to earn his 2012 contract with the Cubs,

That can only mean good things for the year to come, don’t you think?