Neil Andrew RamÃÂrez (born May 25, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, and Toronto Blue Jays.
RamÃÂrez attended and played baseball at Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In high school, he was named the 2007 Gatorade Virginia Baseball Player of the Year, made the East team roster at the 2006 Aflac All-American Classic and won a silver medal with the United States at the 2006 World Junior Baseball Championship in Cuba. Baseball America ranked him the 71st best draft prospect in 2007.
RamÃÂrez originally committed to play college baseball at Georgia Tech but was selected by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft and decided instead to sign a professional contract.
RamÃÂrez spent six years in the Rangers' farm system, playing for the Spokane Indians in 2008 and the Hickory Crawdads in 2009 and 2010.
On August 17, he was promoted to Triple-A at Round Rock in place of Eric Hurley who was placed on the disabled list with viral infection. Prior to his promotion, on July 15, RamÃÂrez was sent to rehab in Double-A Frisco, Texas, due to a sore shoulder. He was quoted as saying to MLB.com that the absence had not bothered him.
On November 18, 2011, RamÃÂrez was added to the Rangers' 40-man roster.
On August 23, 2013, RamÃÂrez was traded to the Chicago Cubs as the player to be named later in the July 2013 trade of Matt Garza. By June 9, 2014, through 14 innings pitched, he had struck out 23 players while having a 0.71 WHIP ratio.
On June 5, 2014, RamÃÂrez earned his first career save in a victory over the New York Mets.
RamÃÂrez finished the year with a 1.44 ERA in 43.2 innings pitched
On May 31, 2016, RamÃÂrez was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers.
On June 12, 2016, RamÃÂrez was claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Twins. He made 8 appearances for Minnesota, struggling to a 6.14 ERA with 11 strikeouts across innings pitched. RamÃÂrez was removed from the 40âÂÂman roster and sent outright to the TripleâÂÂA Rochester Red Wings on July 20. In 16 outings for Rochester, he compiled a 3.10 ERA with 27 strikeouts across innings of work. RamÃÂrez elected free agency following the season on November 7.
On November 28, 2016, RamÃÂrez signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants. On April 1, the Giants announced that RamÃÂrez had earned the team's final Opening Day bullpen spot. In 9 games for San Francisco, he recorded an 8.71 ERA with 18 strikeouts across innings pitched. On April 30, RamÃÂrez was designated for assignment to create room for Bryan Morris, who had his contract selected from Triple-A.
On May 4, 2017, RamÃÂrez was claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was designated for assignment on May 9 without having thrown a pitch for the Blue Jays. On May 14, RamÃÂrez elected free agency after being outrighted to the minor leagues.
On May 16, 2017, the New York Mets signed RamÃÂrez. On July 20, the Mets designated RamÃÂrez for assignment.
On July 27, 2017, RamÃÂrez signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals. In 14 games for the TripleâÂÂA Syracuse Chiefs, he registered a 6.14 ERA with 20 strikeouts in innings pitched. RamÃÂrez elected free agency following the season on November 6.
RamÃÂrez signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians on November 30, 2017. The Indians purchased RamÃÂrez's contract on May 15, 2018. He finished the season with an ERA of 4.54 in innings, his most output since his rookie season in 2014.
He began the 2019 season in the bullpen. He was designated for assignment by the Indians on May 18, 2019, after registering an ERA of 5.40 in innings. After clearing waivers, RamÃÂrez accepted a minor league assignment to the Columbus Clippers, the Indians' Triple-A affiliate, on May 23, 2019. He was released on August 2, 2019.
On August 6, 2019, RamÃÂrez signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was called up by the Blue Jays on August 11. On September 1, Ramirez was designated for assignment. He declared free agency on September 4.
On December 22, 2019, RamÃÂrez signed a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels that included an invitation to Spring Training. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. RamÃÂrez was released by the Angels organization on September 1, 2020.
On April 28, 2023, after several years of inactivity, RamÃÂrez signed with the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. In 10 games (8 starts) for the Rockers, he logged a 2âÂÂ3 record and 4.82 ERA with 37 strikeouts across innings pitched.
On April 15, 2024, RamÃÂrez reâÂÂsigned with High Point. In 17 games (12 starts) for the Rockers, he posted a 5âÂÂ4 record and 4.83 ERA with 75 strikeouts over 69 innings. RamÃÂrez was released by High Point on August 13.
According to Baseball America, RamÃÂrez is tall, weighs , and can throw his fastball at .
RamÃÂrez married Tiffany in October 2014.