The New York Mets have checked in on free agent catchers Wilson Ramos and Martin Maldonado according to Jon Heyman of FanCred Sports.
Ramos, 31, is coming off a strong 2018 campaign in which he hit .306/.358/.487 with 22 doubles, 15 homers and 70 RBI in 416 plate appearances combined between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies. The right-hander hitter led all major league catchers (at least 400 PA) with his 131 wRC+.
Defensively, the veteran Ramos ranked 45th among 117 catchers in 2018 according to Baseball Prospectus and his pop time to second base (1.99 seconds) ranking ranking 32nd among 111 catchers. He was a 2.7 bWAR and and 2.4 fWAR player in 2018. Baseball Prospectus valued him at 2.4 WARP (use this for catchers because their defensive values are better than bWAR/fWAR).
Maldonado, 32, hit just .225/.276/.351 with 18 doubles, nine homers and 44 RBI in 373 plate appearances combined between the Los Angeles Angels and the Houston Astros in 2018.
The right-hander is known for his defense having been a Gold Glove winner in 2017 and a finalist in 2018. BP had Maldonado ranked 18th defensively this season and his pop time (1.97 seconds) ranked 23rd. He was a 0.5 bWAR and 0.9 fWAR player this season. WARP had him valued at 0.6 after a career-high 3.4 in 2017.
The Mets currently have Travis d’Arnaud, Kevin Plawecki and Tomas Nido on the 40-man roster. D’Arnaud is coming off Tommy John surgery and is seen a possible non-tender candidate.
