Following the 2018 campaign, the New York Mets knew they needed to improve their catching position over the offseason and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen was determined to land one of the top backstops in the league. And he nearly pulled it off.
Just a few months after the Boston Red Sox were crowned World Series champions, Van Wagenen explored the free-agent market and offered a lucrative contract to catcher Yasmani Grandal. But rather than signing on the dotted line, the former Los Angeles Dodger turned their four-year, $60 million offer down and decided to sign with the Chicago White Sox instead.
Turning their attention elsewhere, the Mets changed gears and developed a backup plan, ultimately settling on a two-year, $19 million contract with former Washington National Wilson Ramos. While his defense behind the plate was historically average, and that’s being generous, Van Wagenen was hopeful the veteran catcher would be able to maintain his solid offensive results in Queens over the next two seasons.
Despite his slow start to the 2019 campaign, Ramos was able to salvage his inaugural campaign in New York by enjoying a hot streak through the second half of the season, which allowed him to finish with a 105 wRC+ score, 1.4 fWAR rating, and a slashing line of .288/.351/.416/.768. With that said, the 33-year old failed to play up to his expectations this past season, as the majority of his offensive metrics declined across the board over this shortened campaign.
Over his 155 plate appearances, the right-handed batter produced six doubles, five home runs, 15 RBIs, .271 BABIP (.039 decrease from last season), .297 wOBA (.030 decrease), 6.5% walk rate (1.9% decrease), 20.0% strikeout rate (6.8% increase), 25.9% whiff rate (5.4% increase), 17.9% LD rate (0.5% decrease), 15.2% IFFB rate (8.8% increase), 32.1% hard-hit rate (0.1% decrease), 5.4% weak contact rate (2.7% increase), 89 wRC+ score (16-point decrease), 0.2 fWAR rating, along with a slashing line of .239/.297/.387/.684.
Even though these results are over a small sample size, it’s still very concerning that the best aspect of Ramos’ craft started declining in 2020, especially since he’s on the wrong side of 30-years old. To make matters worse, the 6-foot-1 catcher became a defensive liability behind the plate this summer, resulting in one of the worst statistical performances of his entire 11-year career in the major leagues.
Through 327 1/3 innings as the Mets’ backstop, the two-time All-Star committed one error, allowed the most stolen bases (28), finished tied for the second-most passed balls (four) and wild pitches (16) allowed, and finished tied for the second-fewest DRS (-1) among all catchers who played at least 300.0 innings, according to FanGraphs.com.
Taking his defensive struggles even further, Ramos proved to be one of the worst catchers in the league at stealing strikes and also allowed far too many passed balls and wild pitches with runners at third base. As a result, the team’s pitching staff was forced to throw several additional pitches and they could’ve surrendered fewer runs if the “Buffalo” wasn’t suited up as their signal caller.
Among all qualified catchers in the majors, the Venezuela native finished tied with the third-worst EPAA (.001) and the fourth-worst EPAA runs (-.5), according to BaseballProspectus.com. In addition, he also recorded the fifth-lowest strike rate (44.8%) and finished tied for the fifth-lowest runs from extra strikes (zero) among all backstops in the major leagues.
Based on Ramos’ disappointing offensive and defensive results from this past season, it seems like the Mets’ front office will face a similar challenge to the one they were tasked with two years ago. But this time around, they may have the right people in place to land them a franchise-altering catcher, which would likely transform this team into a championship contender.
Before looking ahead to free agency, Van Wagenen – if he’s still employed – will need to make a decision on Ramos’ $10 million club option for next season. Since the aging catcher’s contract includes a $1.5 million buyout, there’s a very good chance he’ll become a free agent very shortly, especially since this team isn’t expected to have any financial limitations this winter.
With billionaire Steve Cohen destined to take over ownership this offseason, the Mets shouldn’t have any issues increasing their 2021 payroll, which is currently slated to exceed just over $100 million after arbitration and contract tenders. Since the front office should have plenty of financial resources, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them make a serious run at catcher J.T. Realmuto once he officially becomes a free agent.
Considering the 29-year old led all catchers in ISO (.225), wOBA (.361), SLG (.491), wRC+ (125), and finished tied for the highest fWAR rating (1.7), he’d definitely provide plenty of offensive upside over Ramos and could be utilized within the middle of the Mets’ batting order as well. As for his defense, the 2019 Gold Glove award winner’s framing score ranked in the 95th percentile this past season, as he finished tied with the second-most runs from extra strikes (three) and generated the fourth-highest strike rate (51.9%).
Since the two-time Silver Slugger is expected to be the best catcher available on the open market this winter, there’ll probably be a deep list of teams who’ll be attempting to acquire his services. With that said, thanks to Cohen’s resources, the Mets shouldn’t encounter any issues outbidding everyone else and coming away victorious by bringing the two-time All-Star to Queens.
Even if the front office fails to land Realmuto, and the chances of that happening seem to be very slim, it’s clear bringing Ramos back for a third season doesn’t make much sense, as a breakup appears to be on the horizon. With that in mind, there’s a very strong chance the Mets will have someone else behind the plate when the 2021 campaign begins.
