BVW followed up his end of Winter Meetings signing of Jeurys Familia with Wilson Ramos. Unlike the Cano/Diaz trade which were discussed heavily in the media for at least a week before they happened, the Familia and Ramos signings seemed to fall out of thin air. Familia was signed in the middle of the night East Coast time with fans finding out about it around 4 AM Thursday morning. It was publicly known that Mets met with Ramos last week but little was known about their meeting. Then at around 5 PM on Sunday, the Mets had a new catcher.
The Familia and Ramos signings were also shrewd, team friendly contracts. In a bloated high end relief market with Kimbrel asking for 9 figures, BVW got Familia for 30 million. In a market where Grandal was going to get 60 million and Realmuto was going to cost the Mets the future, BVW got Ramos, the second best free agent catcher on the market for 19.
Ramos is an interesting signing. He’s consistently played well, as designated by a career .273/.317/.439 slash line and a 102 DRC+. So he’s 2% better than the average major leaguer in a position that’s difficult to put up good, comparable numbers. The knock on Ramos has been his injury history which seems like a dangerous combination given this is the Mets.
Once you move beyond the injuries, which hamper cumulative stats like BWARP (where he has only 19.7 in his career), you can see the promise that Ramos can bring.
Last year he had a 117 and 109 DRC+ with the Phillies and Rays respectively. The year before that he had a DRC+ of 99 and before that 116. His 2015 year was his worst offensively but he also only played 25 games. So 2018 117/109 DRC+, 2017 99, 2016 116.
We can’t compare d’Arnaud’s 2018 because he only played in 4 games but in 2017 he had a DRC+ of 99 and in 2016 79. Last year Plawecki had a DRC+ of 88, 2017 103 (by far his best) and 2016 only 70.
Ramos is a huge upgrade at catcher, and it’s only for two years. It’s hyper risky due to his injury history. He might not feel like an upgrade because his name doesn’t care the same weight as Realmuto or Grandal.
Of course, this only matters with what the Mets do next. How do they fill in that last outfield spot? Who do they get as another lefty in pen?
