Apart from signing reliever Anthony Swarzak to a two-year contract at the Winter Meetings, it’s been a relatively slow offseason for the Mets.
Their highest priority at this point is to land a second baseman, but with Ian Kinsler refusing to waive his no-trade clause for the Mets and acquiring Jason Kipnis becoming increasingly unlikely, Sandy Alderson is going to have to be creative to get a man for the keystone.
One way of doing this, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, is to trade AJ Ramos for a second baseman, then go out and sign a high-end reliever.
Ramos, 31, was acquired by the Mets mid-season from the Miami Marlins in exchange for prospects Merandy Gonzalez and Ricardo Cespedes.
In 21 games for New York, the right-hander pitched to a 4.74 ERA, 4.47 FIP, 1.632 WHIP and had an 11.8 K/9 in 19.0 innings tossed.
The longtime Marlin, Ramos has a career 2.88 ERA, 3.31 FIP and 1.250 WHIP in six big league seasons (346.1 innings pitched).
MLB Trade Rumors projects Ramos will earn $9.2 million through arbitration this season before hitting the open market for next offseason.
With the Mets strapped for payroll, this move could make sense. Ramos will have one of the most lucrative contracts for New York this year. If they can trade him for a cheaper second baseman, then invest some money they save into a reliever like Addison Reed, that’s the route they may have to go.
They don’t have the farm system or the financial leverage to swing a deal for an impact player, but Ramos could be appealing to a team looking to bolster the back end of their bullpen.
