Ramirez is a small guy at 5’11’’ and 170 pounds, but his bat shows promise as he has a .303 average, 12 home runs, 20 doubles and 62 RBI this year at Kinston (High Level Class-A). He was also selected as a member of this year’s Futures Game at the All-Star Game in San Francisco.

Ramirez was born in Venezuela and signed as an undrafted free agent in 2002 at 17 years old by the Braves. He was traded almost exactly one year ago to the Indians for closer Bob Wickman. Ramirez also has the best strike zone judgment in the Carolina League, according to Baseball America’s 2007 Best Tools survey.

Originally a third baseman, Ramirez hit .275-8-35-16 2B in 204 at-bats in 2004 while playing for the GCL Braves (rookie league). The next season, he was moved to catcher, where he has played since then. Daniels may have interest in moving Ramirez to first base or eventually make him a designated hitter.

Here are Ramirez’s stats from ’05 and ’06:

2005: Danville (rookie league) - .347-8-47-19 2B in 239 at-bats

2006: Rome (Class-A, Atlanta) - .294-9-34-16 2B in 235 at-bats

2006: Lake City (Class-A, Cleveland) .307-4-26-6 2B in 127 at-bats

2006: Combined - .298-13-60-22 2B in 362 at-bats

As you can see, Ramirez is an intriguing prospect. The only thing that bothers me is that he turns 23 years old October 11. There are a lot of 22 and 23 year olds playing in the majors right now and not many (at least not many good ones) playing in Class-A.

I thought we might see him assigned to Frisco. It seems like he is ready for a jump to Double-A and it would be good for the fans to be able to go see this guy, but Ramirez is reportedly headed to Class-A Bakersfield.

No matter how good Ramirez turns out to be, Daniels deserves credit for getting a young player with some upside for a 40-year-old outfielder with an expiring contract.

Lofton returns to Cleveland where he spent nine seasons between 1993 and 2001 with a one-year stop in 1997 with Atlanta. He won’t play in center field as Grady Sizemore mans center in Cleveland, so Lofton will play in right or left field.

Marlon Byrd, who has been a bright spot for the Rangers, will take over in center for Texas. Right fielder Nelson Cruz, who hit .188 with three homers and 12 RBI with the Rangers before being sent to Oklahoma on June 5, will take Lofton’s roster spot.

This is a great opportunity to see if Byrd (.350-3-34 in 200 at-bats) is a long-term option for the Rangers in center field and also give Nelson Cruz another shot to prove himself. He’s been tearing the cover off the ball in 45 games since being sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma, hitting .352 with 15 homers and 45 RBI.

There is still more work to be done by Daniels by Tuesday, but so far, so good.

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