NYMets77 asks…

We should’ve acquired J.T. Realmuto or even Yasmani Grandal last offseason instead of Wilson Ramos. His 14 home runs did not make up for his defensive liabilities. He was one of the worst pitch framers too. Syndergaard didn’t even like throwing to him.

Are we stuck with him again next season or will the Mets look to upgrade behind the plate? Who do you think we could get?

Josh Finkelstein answers…

To start off with, I want to be fair to the organization for their decision to not trade for J.T. Realmuto last offseason. They did so because the price was reportedly at least one of Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario, and Michael Conforto plus prospects.

Sure, had the Mets waited things out, they might have been able to get him for significantly less, but they would have been taking a gamble.

Wilson Ramos, though, did not deliver the way many were hoping, mostly with his defense being very suspect.

NYMets77 is correct to point out that his 14 home runs and .768 OPS simply did not make up for his defensive struggles, especially with regards to framing.

In 2019, Ramos ranked 97th out of 113 catchers in framing runs with -4.7, according to Baseball Prospectus.

However, as much as many would be interested in looking for an upgrade behind the plate, Ramos is still under contract in 2020 for $10.25 million with a club option for the 2021 season.

That doesn’t stop them from trading Ramos which might not actually be that difficult of a maneuver, especially if an American League team is interested.

If the Mets are able to trade Ramos, they should and almost certainly would look into making right on a previous wrong by signing Yasmani Grandal.

The catcher spent the entire 2019 season with the Milwaukee Brewers after signing a one-year, $18.25 million contract in January.

With the Brewers, he hit twice as many home runs as Ramos (28) and had a .848 OPS to go along with that. While his .246 average was significantly lower than Ramos’, he was definitely the better option on the offensive side of things.

When you factor in his defensive work, it’s extremely clear cut with regards to which catcher is better.

Grandal is essentially the polar opposite of Ramos when it comes to framing, as Grandal ranked second in all of baseball in framing runs with 19.4 in 2019.

For a team that has struggled mightily on defense, especially up the middle, that would be a huge improvement behind the dish.

It’s especially vital when you consider that this team is built on a strong pitching staff with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, and Steven Matz already in the fold for the 2020 season.

Other than Grandal, options such as former-Mets catcher, Travis d’Arnaud, and Francisco Cervelli will be available on the open market.

None of the options on the free-agent market are more appealing than Grandal, though, as he offers a clear upgrade to what the Mets currently have behind the plate, both offensively and defensively.

The last part of this to figure out is whether the Mets would actually go through with this type of procedure of trading Ramos to sign Grandal.

My bet as of right now is probably not. They probably see other needs such as signing a fifth starter and fixing the bullpen as more important.

In my opinion, they shouldn’t see it like that and if their reason for not going through with it is finance-related, they should really reconsider.

Having a strong defender behind the plate and someone all of the members of the pitching staff feel comfortable throwing to could help the team tremendously.

If they can unload Ramos’ full 2020 salary, and pay Grandal somewhere between $16-$18 million annually, that would only lead to a $6-$8 million increase in their payroll for next season.

Ramos is a sunk cost at this point and the Mets are going to be paying a catcher $10.25 million in 2020 if they do nothing. Personally, I think paying an extra $6-$8 million for the right catcher seems worth it and signing Yasmani Grandal should be a top priority this offseason.

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