11:17 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO ? To outsiders, Aramis Ramirez can seem cold and detached. He doesn?t talk to hear the sound of his own voice, which gave some weight to the message he had for Darwin Barney late last season.
They were standing around one day during batting practice at Wrigley Field when Ramirez told Barney: Go home and work hard and get stronger this offseason. Because you have a good chance to be the Cubs second baseman next year.
?It was something I never thought about (before),? Barney recalled. ?I was questioning it and he said, ?Look, you can hit, you can play.? Those kinds of things ? people don?t get to see.?
Everyone in Chicago sees the body language, which doesn?t scream ?grinder.?
Todd Hollandsworth ? a former teammate and Comcast SportsNet analyst ? went on WSCR-AM 670 earlier this month and ripped Ramirez, questioning his effort and influence on Barney and Starlin Castro. ESPN?s Bobby Valentine recently wondered where Ramirez was when Castro spaced out on national television.
The criticism gained enough traction to generate national headlines. Even some within the clubhouse were bothered by the consideration given Ramirez earlier this season when he flew home to attend to personal business. But that?s not the entire picture.
Lou Piniella made a point to run things by his third baseman when he wanted a veteran perspective. Ramirez has done enough behind the scenes ? particularly among the Latin players ? that Carlos Marmol once asked Ramirez to be the godfather to his daughter. Castro credits Ramirez for helping him develop into an All-Star shortstop.
?That Hollandsworth thing,? Ramirez said. ?I can?t control what guys like him think about me. What I can control is what the guys in here think about me, especially the young guys that I try to help. Some of the stuff ? you guys (in the media) or the fans don?t know about it. It?s just inside the clubhouse.
?If you talk to Barney, if you talk to Castro, then you really know.?
It all came fairly easy for Ramirez, who grew up in a privileged environment in the Dominican Republic, the son of a doctor and an accountant. He enjoyed playing basketball more than baseball and didn?t take the sport seriously until he was a teenager. He still made it to the big leagues at the age of 19.
?I?ve been around long enough to realize when a guy has a chance to be pretty good,? he said.
Barney wasn?t asked specifically about Hollandsworth or Ramirez. He offered up the anecdote unprompted. To be honest, heading into spring training Cubs people projected Barney as a utility infielder and thought Blake DeWitt and Jeff Baker would take the job at second base.
?The rap that he gets (is) not right,? Barney said. ?If the guy flies out (and) he doesn?t get to first base, it doesn?t mean he doesn?t play hard. (It) doesn?t mean he?s not pulling me aside and helping me out in a game and instilling confidence.?
Ramirez hasn?t worked hard at crafting his public image. He doesn?t do it for the cameras or the microphones. He just puts up numbers, at least when he?s healthy, which isn?t always a given. He began Monday hitting .309 with 24 homers and 83 RBI.
?This year speaks for itself,? manager Mike Quade said. ?He?s playing about as well as I?ve ever seen right now.?
Quade remembers watching Ramirez coming up through the Pirates system and even at the Double-A level knew he would be an RBI machine in the big leagues. In the heat of a pennant race, Jim Hendry would take Ramirez over just about any other third baseman in the game.
But once chairman Tom Ricketts fired the general manager, Ramirez may have lost his biggest advocate within the organization. After the smoke clears, there could still be Hendry loyalists remaining in the front office.
At season?s end, the 33-year-old can void his deal and become the best third baseman on the free-agent market. After that, there?s a $16 million club option with a $2 million buyout.
?Right now, we don?t even have a GM,? Ramirez said. ?We don?t know what the new guy has in mind. We don?t know if Jim?s people (will) be around. It?s a tough situation to be in. I can?t control that. My playing on the field is going to dictate if that?s good enough for them.
?(If) the new GM (or) the owners (want) to go a different way, I appreciate everything they did for me and I move on. But at this point, I don?t know exactly what?s going to happen.?
Ramirez and his family are very comfortable in Chicago. But he also wants to win because he knows the clock is ticking on his career. Like he said, it all depends on who you talk to. Ask around and maybe he wouldn?t be such a bad fit on a rebuilding team.
Patrick Mooney is CSNChicago.com's Cubs beat writer. Follow Patrick on Twitter @CSNMooney for up-to-the-minute Cubs news and views.
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