Now that the New York Mets are finalizing a deal that would greatly improve their bullpen and infield, it’s time to make some necessary improvements at other positions to make this a complete and successful offseason.
One of the Mets’ main priorities this offseason should be upgrading at their catcher, and they have multiple paths they could take to do that. The most obvious way to upgrade at catcher would be to sign top free agents Wilson Ramos or Yasmani Grandal.
However, according to a report from Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets are hesitant to pursue Ramos due to his mediocre defense as well as his spotty injury history. Ramos, 31, only played 64 games in 2017 and has only surpassed 500 plate appearances twice in his career. Since he became a regular in 2011, he has played less than 100 games in four of his eight seasons.
According to Baseball Prospectus, Ramos ranked 48th out of 117 MLB catchers in framing runs, and 45th in FRAA_ADJ, which factors in framing runs, blocking runs, and throwing runs. Not terrible, but not great by any means either.
Puma noted that the Mets are prioritizing defense and pitch framing in their search for a catcher. Considering Ramos’s mediocrity in this area, it is not unreasonable for them to pass on him for this reason.
However, this should not be an excuse for the Mets not upgrading at catcher. Grandal, the other top free agent catcher, is a year younger than Ramos and is one of the best defensive catchers in all of baseball. He ranked first in framing runs and first in FRAA_ADJ out of all 117 catchers who caught in the Major Leagues in 2018. He’s also a really good hitter, arguably better than Ramos. He hit for a 125 wRC+ last year and owns a 117 mark for his career. Especially coming off a year when catchers as a whole didn’t hit very well, Grandal is extremely valuable.
One argument for signing Ramos over Grandal is that the Mets have a greater need for a right-handed bat than a left-handed bat, and while Grandal is a switch-hitter, he is a better hitter from the left side. This really shouldn’t be a huge factor though, as the overall production is what really matters.
One red flag regarding Grandal is that while his overall defense is great, he does have 55 passed balls over the past five years, the most of any MLB catcher.
Grandal and Ramos are both great catchers and would each improve the 2019 team without a doubt. A case could be made to sign either of them, and the Mets absolutely should go all in on a top catcher if they want to win in 2019. If they want to stay away from Ramos because of his defense and injury history, that’s fine, but it shouldn’t be a reason for not upgrading at all.
With the Mets less likely to sign Ramos, this likely increases the chances of them signing Grandal or trading for J.T. Realmuto. Brodie Van Wagenen has already shown that he’s willing to be aggressive, so it will be interesting to see how the Mets continue to approach the market for a catcher going forward.
