Jose Ramirez finishes third in American League MVP voting

A season that proved Jose Ramirez is a cornerstone player for the Indians ends with some well-earned respect. Ramirez finished third in the AL MVP vote tonight, behind Jose Altuve and Aaron Judge, respectively. He received one first place vote in addition to 22 third place votes. Francisco Lindor finished fifth, and Corey Kluber finished seventh.

The recognition comes after a season in which many writers heralded him as nothing more than a very good utility player for much of the first half. The narrative began to change when Ramirez — who has played left field, third base, and second base exceptionally well over the last two seasons — started at third in the All-Star game for the American League.

His final slash on the year read .318/.374/.583, with a career high in every counting category except for stolen bases and lost helmets

He married these monstrous batting results with deft fielding at third base, where he played 736 innings, and second base, where he played 577.

Ramirez owns an fWAR of 13.9 through his age 25 season now, and is contracted with the Indians through 2021, with two additional option years. I have a feeling he’ll be back in the discussion for the MVP again sometime during that time frame.