Mets Rumors: Rays ready to make a deal for Wilson Ramos

According to the latest New York Mets trade rumors, the Tampa Bay Rays may be willing to help them with their catching issues. Is a deal for Wilson Ramos coming in the future?

Travis d’Arnaud is out for the year and Kevin Plawecki will miss a couple of months. This leaves the New York Mets with few options, turning to veteran Jose Lobaton and rookie Tomas Nido in the interim.

Even when Plawecki does return, the Mets should look to upgrade behind the plate. Per Mark Tompkin of the Tampa Bay Times, it’s the Tampa Bay Rays who may have the quickest solution.

The Rays “would love to talk” with the Mets about a possible deal involving Wilson Ramos. Hoping to unload as much salary as possible, it’s no surprise to see the Rays eager to trade away whatever veterans they can.

Their offseason included trading Evan Longoria to the San Francisco Giants among other cost-cutting transactions. Ramos, who is set to earn $10.5 million this season, seems like an appropriate trade candidate for the Rays as well.

What Ramos brings to the Mets

Mets fans may remember Ramos best from his days with the Washington Nationals. While there, Ramos proved to be a low-average hitter with good power.

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By far, his best season was in 2016 when he slashed .307/.354/.496 with 22 home runs. His season did end prematurely due to an injury he has since recovered from. Any worries about this affecting him should be set aside.

Instead of focusing on the offensive totals Ramos can contribute, it’s worth praising him for his stellar defense. Throughout his big league career, Ramos was a plus-defender. He also had three consecutive seasons of throwing out 37-44% of attempted base runners from 2014-2016. Numbers like these should surely intrigue the Mets considering how poorly d’Arnaud and Plawecki performed behind the plate in this regard.

While Mets fans will dream of J.T. Realmuto suiting up for them later this season, the realistic choice of Ramos seems far greater. My guess is the Rays trade him for nearly nothing. When it comes to saving money, nobody does it better than Tampa Bay.

Whatever the Mets do, expecting them to add anyone significant will take a few months. Plawecki’s injury isn’t nearly as detrimental as the one d’Arnaud suffered. He will return before we know it.

Next: J.T. Realmuto will not play for the Mets in 2018

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With the rest of the team clicking so well, any drastic maneuvers will need to be placed on the backburner.