The Mets brought back outfielder Alex Ramírez on a minor league contract, reports Will Sammon of the Athletic (X link). It’s unclear whether the 21-year-old will get a non-roster invite to MLB Spring Training.
Ramírez returns to the only organization for which he’s suited up in his career. The righty-hitting outfielder was the centerpiece of New York’s international signing class back in 2019. New York signed him out of the Dominican Republic for a little over $2MM. Ramírez hit well in the low minors as a teenager. Baseball America ranked him among the club’s top five prospects going into 2023, while both BA and MLB Pipeline had him near the back of their overall Top 100 rankings.
Two years of subpar minor league production have sapped his prospect value. Ramírez hit .221/.310/.317 in High-A in ’23. The Mets nevertheless put him on their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Ramírez held his 40-man spot but had another rough season in the minors. He hit just .210/.291/.299 with five homers across 123 games for Double-A Binghamton. His strikeout and walk profile was reasonable, but it’s the second straight season in which he had a complete lack of power.
New York opted not to tender Ramírez a contract at the non-tender deadline. That sent him to free agency without putting him on waivers. Teams often try to re-sign players in Ramírez’s situation on minor league deals, but they’re free to explore other opportunities. Ramírez seemingly didn’t find a club that was willing to offer him a big league contract, so he’ll stick with the Mets and look for better results at the plate in the high minors.
I’m okay with them giving him one more chance . They’ve already invested millions in him already.
Bring him back on a minors contract, opens up a 40 man spot. Never know maybe he can put it together if not they always need players to fill out the minors teams and he can do that for a couple of years.
Dude never got a chance to succeed. High a at 19 and 20 with minimal success, yet still pushed him to double a at 21 the next year. Dudes still super young so hopefully gets a proper chance
He was successful at 19 in High=A, then couldn’t repeat that success at 20 in High-A. Now at 22 when it’s 2-1/2 years since you were successful as high as High-A… that’s no longer “still super young.”
He wasn’t successful at high a, he was passable. Sure he was young for the league, but that doesn’t mean he should have gone to double a. He should have repeated. Yes 22 is still super young considering he was a top 100 prospect that was pushed way too early
TigersLoveCinnamon: Unless you work in the business, you have no way to know the chances he’s had.
Players generally are given every chance to advance as far as they can.
Another team could still snatch him in the Rule 5 draft but it seems unlikely to happen. If a team isn’t willing to sign him to a big league contract and option him then it wouldn’t make sense for a team to have to keep him on the big league roster for a whole year.
I really wanted him to sign with another team the Mets have messed up with development drastically he still has the tools to be that top 100 guy he once was but it’s looking likely he’s not going to reach them in the Mets system
cr4: How do you know that?
Add him with Jett Williams andTidwell going to CWS for Crochet than trade McNeil and Baty to Cincy for Diaz brother
The Reds have a glut of infielders. They wouldn’t do that.