Houston Astros: 5 blockbusting free agency moves to make this offseason
By T.A. Mock
Wilson Ramos, C
Wilson Ramos has had a wild career arc so far. After spending his entire minor league career in the Twins organization, he was traded to the Nationals and had his first taste of the majors that season. His true rookie campaign followed and he had a pretty decent season and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.
After that, Ramos couldn’t capture the starting job and struggled for any playing time for the next couple of seasons. An explanation for this could be his kidnapping in his home country of Venezuela. However, in 2015, he officially took over the main job for the Nationals, unfortunately, this was also the worst year of his career. So, heading into his sixth season, he was entering make it or break it territory.
That offseason, Ramos opted to get Lasik surgery to correct his vision. Now, it’s not conclusive that this was what solved Ramos’ issues, things immediately turned around in the 2016 season. He legitimately set career highs in every category, hitting and fielding.
He hit .307 with a .850 OPS. He also launched 22 homers and brought in 80 RBIs. He also had a .997 fielding percentage and threw out 37% of potential base stealers. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL the last week of the season. This forced him to miss out on his first big contract of the season and miss the beginning of the 2017 season.
The Astros should flip Kyle Tucker for JT Realmuto. light. Must Read
He struggled a bit in 2017 after he finally came back from his ACL injury. He worked on shaking off the rust though and came back strong in 2018 making another All-Star game which he had to miss due to injury but that didn’t stop the Phillies for trading for him at the deadline. Where he tore it up the final month+ of the season.
The Houston Astros should pursue Ramos to plug their hole at catcher. Especially if they don’t want to give up Kyle Tucker for JT Realmuto. Ramos would provide excellent offense and very strong defense at the plate and give the Astros another positive in the lineup.
Another option: Yasmani Grandal
Yasmani Grandal is not the ideal option to become the Astros new catcher. However, he would be a decent choice for the team if they wish to find a solid, veteran platoon option with good offense and defense.