Last offseason, the Mets tried to sign free agent catcher Yasmani Grandal to a reported four-year, $60 million deal, which the catcher declined.
Instead, Grandal took a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Mets went to Plan B and signed Wilson Ramos.
Ramos, 32, signed a two-year, $19 million deal with the Mets with a club option for 2021. At the dish this year, Ramos had a decent campaign, hitting 14 home runs and recording a triple slash of .288/.351/.416 and even a 26 game hit streak at one point.
However, he also saw some numbers dip. His barrel rate was the lowest of his career, his launch angle was a flat 0.0, and his xWOBA and xSLG were all very low.
But most concerning about Ramos is how poor of a defensive catcher he is. His framing is some of the worst in the league, ranking in the 26th percentile by Baseball Savant, and ranking No. 102 out of 113 eligible catchers by Baseball Prospectus.
With one year left on his deal as well as a club option, the Mets should look to trade Ramos this winter, perhaps to an American League team who could use him sparingly as a catcher and primarily as a designated hitter.
If the Mets could at the very least dump his salary and reallocate those assets into signing Yasmani Grandal this winter, it would be one of the most shrewd moves of the offseason for them.
Grandal, 31, is one of the best offensive catchers in the game and a super defensive catcher, ranking No. 3 defensively by Baseball Prospectus, with his 20.1 FRAA one of the best in the game.
Bringing on Grandal would provide a huge boost to a pitching staff who already has a ton of potential and when healthy is one of the best in baseball.
It could also help someone like Noah Syndergaard out, who had expressed his distaste with having Ramos catch him in 2019.
The Mets have a lot of dead money on the payroll this year with Yoenis Cespedes and David Wright‘s contracts still on the books, but if they dole out a multi-year deal to Grandal, it’ll hand tie them a bit in 2020 but after that it wouldn’t be a huge deal at all with so much money coming off the books.
