According to several reports, the Braves have been in contact with Wilson Ramos to fill their currently open void at the catcher’s spot. Ramos made his second All-Star game last season, hitting over .300 with 15 home runs in 111 games between both the Rays and Phillies. There is no arguing Ramos is among the top hitting catchers in all of baseball; however, his age and injury history make him a risky investment for a team looking to become World Series contenders.
In the midst of his first All-Star campaign with the Washington Nationals, Ramos tore his ACL just months before he was scheduled to become a free agent. That led to him signing a smaller 2-year, $12.5 million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2017 offseason. The injury forced him to miss close to 100 games the next season, but Ramos would return to hit .260 with 11 home runs in 64 games. He returned to the All-Star game last year posting a .306 batting average with 15 home runs.
The Phillies traded for Ramos just prior to the trade deadline in hopes he could put them over the top in the NL East race. Of course, the Braves ran away with the division, but Ramos was a nice addition, hitting .337 in 33 games.
Mark Bowman, MLB.com’s beat writer for the Atlanta Braves, believes the Braves do have serious interest in adding the veteran catcher, but views both him and Indians outfielder Michael Brantley as “secondary” free agent options.
Atlanta has also been one of several teams linked to J.T. Realmuto, who seems likely to be dealt before the start of the season. Realmuto might be the best all-around catcher in baseball, is much younger and doesn’t come with the extensive injury history that Ramos does. However, Realmuto will require quite a haul of prospects in return. The Braves might be better off playing a little risk/reward game with Ramos and signing him to a contract friendly short-term deal.