The Indians and Wilson Ramos are in agreement on a minor league contract, Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base reports (via Twitter). Presumably, the Octagon client will head to Triple-A Columbus once the deal is formally announced.
Ramos, 34, inked a one-year deal worth $2MM with the Tigers over the winter and opened the season as their primary catcher, but his production crumbled after a hot start to the year. The former All-Star homered in six of his first nine games with the Tigers, batting .281/.343/.875 through his first 37 plate appearances with the club. He wasn’t able to sustain anywhere near that level of offensive output, however, and over his next 91 plate appearances the veteran slugger managed only a .170/.198/.216 batting line.
Ramos made two trips to the injured list due to back strains during his short time with the Tigers organization. He was designated for assignment upon being reinstated from his second IL stint, and he was released five days later after clearing waivers.
For several years, Ramos was regarded as one of the better-hitting catchers in the game. His peak performance, from 2016-18, saw him post a combined .298/.343/.483 slash in 1163 plate appearances. That offensive ability helped to balance out a dwindling defensive reputation, but in recent years, the downturn in his glovework has become more glaring as his offense has also begun to deteriorate. Ramos was a roughly league-average hitter in two seasons with the Mets but began to lose playing time to the defensively superior Tomas Nido. Over the past three seasons, Ramos carries just a 16 percent caught-stealing rate, sub-par framing metrics and an overall -16 mark in Defensive Runs Saved.
Ramos’ early surge in 2021 offered a glimpse of life in his bat, and he’s only a couple years removed from a .288/.351/.416 showing as the Mets’ primary catcher. The Indians are currently relying on the defensively strong but offensively challenged combination of Austin Hedges and Rene Rivera behind the plate; Ramos brings something of the opposite skill set to their depth chart, although it’s been a couple years since we’ve seen sustained production from him at the plate. Roberto Perez, the Indians’ starter behind the dish, has been out since early May after undergoing surgery to repair a broken finger, but he’s been working through a minor league rehab assignment and could return in the coming days.
so, maybe Perez wasn’t “alright’ after the other nights rehab game.
That’s what I am thinking or they want Austin to get more work in the minors to groom him for the starting job
Grooming Austin? Naylor is the catcher of the future.
I suspect this might be setting up for a trade. As some others have suggested, that a trade with Pirates might be in the works. The are interested in Bo Naylor, and Tribe interested in CF Bryan Reynolds. Hmmm, might have an opening for a catcher in minors.
I don’t see the Pirates trading Reynolds unless they get a ridiculous overpay to do so
The “unless” is a given with this time of season. But with depth of talent in lower levels for Indians farm clubs, and that development level is what Pirates are looking for, it is workable. Reynolds, on the other hand, does not fit their timeline of 3-5 years to contend, he would be gone by then.
A trade is coming…. Only Perez or Hedges is on the move. The tribe realizes that they don’t need two stud “handler of pitchers “. It’s a midnomer anyway as the need some offense at catcher.
Wait til you see how bad Ramos’ D is… he’s not replacing anyone permanently.
Signing a guy off the scrap heap doesn’t mean anything. You don’t sign a catcher nobody else wants in order to trade the better catcher you have.
He wasn’t all that bad for Detroit. Seems like he was starting to hit again after a slump, but got hurt again. In the meantime, Eric Haase continued to hit, and Jake Rogers emerged with his bat to compliment his excellent play behind the plate.
Mize and Skubal became much better pitchers after he stopped catching for them. Almost the entire staff, actually.
I don’t see how you can make that assertion. Before he went down on April 25, the Tigers had given up about 3.5 runs per game in the last 5 games he caught. After he went down, runs against jumped to about 7 per game for the next 2 weeks.
If anyone deserves credit for the Rise of Mize and Skoob, it’s the rising star Chris Fetter.
It helps to have a catcher who can catch the ball. I’m sure that puts the pitchers mind at ease. Agree with Fetter.
Many players are streaky, and small sample size distorts reality. I’m sure his healthy self is somewhere in between the hot start and slump. That will still be an upgrade on the offense Cleveland has been getting from their Cs. Give me a break on pitch framing, tho. Until you can show me the ump would have called it differently had another catcher caught it, its on the umpire, not the catcher.
Remember when he was one of the best prospects in baseball
Remember when he was one of the best catchers in baseball. He wasn’t just a prospect, he actually did accomplish a lot at the highest level. He is just an example of how your time at the top in this game is very limited. Reminds me a lot of Jonathan Lucroy.
If you ever saw him “run” down to first on a grounder, you wouldn’t touch the “turtle” with a 10 foot pole. Maybe Tito (who’s good at those things) can kick his butt and get something out of him.
They don’t call Wilson ‘Buffalo’ for nothing.
Surprised he didn’t sign with the Chubs. The Chubs backup catcher situation:
Austin Romine: Injured
Tony Wolters: Can’t hit a beach ball swinging a folding chair instead of a bat
P.J. Higgins: Injured
Jose Lobaton: Injured.
They are currently using some guy named Taylor Gushy as their back up catcher who has never been in the majors before.and already has a negative WAR.
Gushue. And, perhaps they just want to give him some playing time in the bigs. That’s usually how players finish their development, with big league playing time.
If something happens to Contreras, there are other veteran backstops they can sign.
If they wanted Gushue playing time in the bigs, they would have called him up before Romine, Wolters, Higgins, Lobaton all got their chance.
They have no back up catcher, no decent starting pitching, let Schwarburger walk at the wrong time, Heyward struggling to bat .200. Bryant, Rizzo, Hoerner, Bote also injured.
It’s time to hit the PANIC BUTTON if you are a CUBS FAN
So many ugly stat lines among the players listed in the abouve article
Columbus? There’s already 3 catchers on the roster there, plus Perez rehabbing, although they were saying yesterday that he should be in Cleveland today. But then that means someone from the big club needs to return to Columbus.
Columbus? Wouldn’t that give them 4 catchers on the roster, after Perez returns to Cleveland?
Pretty easy to move one of the current AAA catchers down to AA.
Already 3 catchers there. Shall we continue?
Ramos is now the best catcher on the roster