Mets reliever AJ Ramos has a torn labrum in his right shoulder and will undergo season-ending surgery tomorrow, the team tells reporters (Twitter link via Mike Puma of the New York Post). The right-hander has been out since May 27 with a shoulder injury and was recently said to be weighing surgery.
Ramos, 31, served as the closer for the Marlins for two and a half seasons before the Mets acquired him in a surprising trade last July. New York had already begun selling off veteran pieces, but GM Sandy Alderson explained at the time that the move was made with an eye toward 2018. The Mets didn’t pay a steep price in terms of prospects to acquire Ramos (Merandy Gonzalez and Ricardo Cespedes), given his salary obligations, but they did agree to a $9.225MM salary with Ramos this winter in avoiding arbitration.
That will go down as a mostly sunk cost for the Mets, as Ramos was solid through the month of April but was shelled in May and will finish out the year with a 6.41 ERA in 19 2/3 innings. While he racked up an impressive 22 punchouts in that time, he also issued 15 walks and surrendered three homers before initially landing on the disabled list.
Ramos is a free agent at season’s end, meaning tomorrow’s surgery is likely to end his tenure with the Mets. In all, he pitched just 38 2/3 innings with the team and turned in a 5.59 ERA with a characteristically high strikeout rate (10.9 K/9) against a bloated 6.3 BB/9 mark that was lofty even by Ramos’ standards. He’s never struggled to miss bats, but even at his best, Ramos was often wild, averaging 4.8 walks per nine innings pitched during a largely successful run with the Marlins.
While a solid season with the Mets would’ve primed Ramos for a multi-year deal in free agency, it now seems likely that he’ll have to settle for a one-year pact with a low base and plenty of incentives, if not a minor league deal with an invitation to prove his shoulder’s health in Spring Training next year.
As for the Mets, they’ve been operating without Ramos for three weeks or so anyhow, so his loss won’t change much in the short-term. His season-ending injury, however, does eliminate the possibility of flipping him to a contender at the deadline. The return on Ramos, even if healthy and effective, wouldn’t have been especially high considering that $9.225MM salary, though the Mets could’ve at least saved some cash and/or added a modest prospect or two to the minor league ranks.
Oof Shoulder is worse than TJ, This was Ramos’ last Arb yr. Where do the Mets go from there?
from here* ?
The marlins got the better end of that trade
good analysis
more like good hindsight
Does that mean the Mets get more insurance money to go along with David wright?
Even when Alderson manages to pull off a decent trade it ends badly for the Mets.
I really thought Ramos-Familia could be a killer 8th and 9th combo had the Mets become contenders or a keep-one-trade-the-other-at-the-deadline pair of quality relievers.
The Mets killer combo is Mutt and Jeff. Is it possible that a franchise that has by and large been the laughing stock of baseball for many decades is not hitting a new low water mark?
The beat goes on. :0(
The real Mets killer combo is actually Mutt and Jeff. Is it possible that these uncommitted and incompetent owners can take this team which has been the “laughing stock of baseball” for many decades, to a new low water mark?
I hope I’m wrong in my theory. Excluding 1969s first WS appearance, the Mets have been in 4 other World Series.
1973 loss to Oakland. 13 year wait until 1986 win against Boston. 14 year wait until 2000 loss to Yanks. Finally, 15 year wait until 2015 loss to Royals.
If I have to wait 16 years until the 2031 World Series, I’ll be 75 years old!
Sadly, the Mets should be a flagship franchise for MLB. They have been abused by owners who aren’t baseball rich. The team is a way to make money not to necessarily win like the Yankees and Red Sox, etc. They are not a very good team but do have pitching. Other teams would scramble to get ready to blow away a Machado or Harper. The Mets just let it be known that they won’t be in the bidding. They are a sad lot.
Good analysis. The Mets won’t be in the bidding for their only assets because:
-they are afraid to admit that the rest of the team stinks and with an empty minor league system they must reboot.
-their owners are cheap and as incompetent as management.
-management is disfunctional with Sandy no longer in touch with today’s game. He’s got one former GM on his staff that he didn’t hire and doesn’t want, a former manager who is good at mumbling, and two assistant GM’s who’s claim to fame is hard to identify. Plus there’s a former GM manning one of the base coaching positions.
-the Coupons are cheap and will want an unrealistic amount.
: if they do nothing the Mets are sealing their fate through 2023 at least. The Braves and Phil’s are on the rise.
+It will be especially fun if the Marlins get hot and finish ahead of the Mets. Mets fans who defend and support the team through ticket purchases and viewership of SNY deserve a last place cellar finish.