After a highly publicized Marlin-fishing expedition, the Mets put down their poles Sunday and landed themselves a Buffalo instead.
J.T. Realmuto won’t be taking his talents from South Florida to Queens. Instead, the Mets have agreed to a two-year, $19 million contract (pending a physical) with veteran catcher Wilson “The Buffalo” Ramos, who tortured them for a long time as a member of the rival Nationals and still is just 31. Multiple sources confirmed the signing, which was first reported by Venezuelan journalist Daniel Alvarez Montes.
The signing of Ramos, a right-handed hitter, indicates the Mets will almost certainly hold onto their young core players — Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario and Noah Syndergaard — as they try to go all-in on 2019. All of those players’ names came up — Syndergaard’s, particularly, in three-way trade scenarios — as the Mets tried fervently to acquire Realmuto, who has two years of control left before free agency. Ultimately, the Mets determined Miami’s ask for Realmuto, a package topped by two high-ceiling, controllable players, to be too high. All along, the industry belief has been the Marlins preferred to trade Realmuto out of the NL East, and the Mets, Nationals and Braves all have filled catching voids this offseason while Realmuto remains available.
At last week’s winter meetings, the Mets met personally with both Ramos and fellow free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal, and the get-together with Ramos went a long way toward cementing this partnership. Furthermore, Ramos, as an unqualified free agent, cost only money — the deal features a team option for 2021 that if exercised, will earn Ramos $27.5 million over three years — whereas Grandal, because he turned down a qualifying offer from the Dodgers, would have cost the Mets their second-round draft pick and $500,000 in international signing bonus pool money.
In 111 games (73 at catcher) for the Rays and Phillies in 2018, Ramos slashed .306/.358/.487, hitting 15 homers. It marked his first full season back in action after he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee at the tail end of the 2016 regular season, his second such injury. Concerns about his durability, as well as his foot speed, likely prevented him from making more.
On the plus side, Ramos’ colorful nickname emanated from his clubhouse personality of toughness and a willingness to play through any non-debilitating condition. And another year removed from his serious injury might allow him to improve his pitch-framing skills, which were regarded as elite prior to 2016. He caught 29 percent (14-of-48) of opposing base stealers last season. Ramos will earn $8.25 million next season and $9.25 million in 2020 and has a $10 million team option or $1.5 million buyout for 2021. His contract doesn’t feature any trade protection.
For now, the Mets are regarding their catcher position as a time share between Ramos and Travis d’Arnaud, although d’Arnaud’s injury history hardly inspires confidence he can produce on even a part-time basis. Kevin Plawecki remains on the roster as well.
With a catcher in the fold to join second baseman Robinson Cano and back-end relievers Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia, Mets rookie general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has completed a sizable amount of his offseason work. Remaining on the Mets’ to-do list is a center fielder — they have been engaged with free agent A.J. Pollock — and a lefty reliever; Van Wagenen intimated last week the club would likely shop in a lower-priced aisle for that commodity.