The 33-year-old All-Star is a strong candidate to be dealt this winter.
Chicago White Sox' shortstop Alexei Ramirez seems to be a hot commodity this winter, as Bruce Levine of CBSChicago reports that the White Sox have already "heard from numerous major league clubs" regarding the availability of Ramirez. He lists the Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers as teams that have already inquired on the 33-year-old All-Star.
Levine notes that the Mets have been "the most aggressive in their pursuit" of a shortstop such as Ramirez, with the club seemingly exploring options ranging from Ramirez to Starlin Castro to Asdrubal Cabrera to Hanley Ramirez. The Mets do match up well with Chicago, as the latter is in need of young starting pitching. New York has the ability to offer up a number of young arms including highly regarded right-handers Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero. Of course, it's unclear if the Mets would be willing to part with either player in a trade for Ramirez.
Both the Yankees and Dodgers are in the market for a starting shortstop as well. The Yankees are without Derek Jeter for the first time in two decades, and the Dodgers could lose Hanley Ramirez to free agency this winter.
Ramirez is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, in which he made the All-Star team for the first time and hit .273/.305/.408, good for a 101 OPS+, the second best mark of his career. Ramirez also hit 15 home runs, posted a 3.0 WAR, and stole over 20 bases (21) for the third straight season. A big selling point on Ramirez is his extremely favorable contract situation. He stands to make a total of just $20 million over the next two years assuming his $10 million option for 2016 is picked up. If he can continue to be the 2.0-3.5 WAR player that he generally has been, then Ramirez could be quite the bargain over the next couple seasons.