Mets: AJ Ramos trade gets more painful with Merandy Gonzalez succeeding

The AJ Ramos trade by the New York Mets will only get worse. One of the guys in the deal, Merandy Gonzalez, has already won two games for the Miami Marlins in relief.

When the New York Mets acquired AJ Ramos in a trade last summer with the Miami Marlins, it looked as if they were landing a good setup man. The Mets were clearly sellers, but still interested on building for 2018. It was a bold move which has hurt them often.

Worst of all, the Marlins are getting some help of their own.

Since joining the Mets, Ramos is 2-2 with a 5.59 ERA. He’s leading the league in games pitched this season which is a testament to Mickey Callaway‘s overuse of bad pitchers. With an ERA of 6.41 and an average of almost 7 walks per 9 innings pitched, Ramos is a $9 million mistake by the Mets.

Ramos is currently in New York while the team prepares to play the Atlanta Braves. Reportedly, it’s a shoulder issue that has him visiting the doctors.

But that’s not anything new to Mets fans. Watching him regularly, we know what a blunder the trade was. What many may not realize is that one of the guys New York sent to Miami in the deal is in the big leagues right now.

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In exchange for Ramos, the Mets sent minor leaguers Merandy Gonzalez and Ricardo Cespedes to the Marlins. The former is already with the big league club after skipping the Triple-A level. At 22, Gonzalez has the potential to become a reliable big league arm.

Through his first six games with the Marlins, Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 4.85 ERA. The Marlins have used him exclusively as a relief pitcher, but it’s possible he moves to the rotation at some point. He pitched almost primarily as a starter in the minor leagues with some promising results.

Last year, Gonzalez made 20 starts and had a pair of relief appearances down in Single-A. He turned in a 13-3 record while maintaining a 1.66 ERA. Even at this lower minor league level, it’s worth envying.

We’re still in May and the sample size is small, but Gonzalez is outpitching Ramos by miles. When considering Ramos’ contract and age, hindsight tells us how bad of a trade this was for the Metropolitans.

According to MLB.com, Gonzalez is the 13th ranked prospect in the Marlins’ system. Based on this, he’s clearly a guy with some potential.

By no means has Gonzalez blown anyone away. He’s still young, though, and his numbers suggest finer days ahead. When compared to the pitching staff in New York this year, who wouldn’t want to re-do this deal?

There isn’t much good news when Ramos is involved. Watching Gonzalez succeed in Miami makes it even harder to stomach.

Next: Grading each of the Mets free agent signings

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At least the Ramos era in New York will end after the season comes to a close.