Milwaukee Brewers Rumors: ‘Serious Interest’ In Wilson Ramos

Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns is reported to have met free agent catcher Wilson Ramos at the 2018 Winter Meetings. Milwaukee is looking for a catcher with some offensive presence and Ramos could be the catcher that the Brewers could need.

The Milwaukee Brewers are looking for a catcher that could help them out at the plate in 2019 and Wilson Ramos has been linked to the Brewers. GM David Stearns just met with Ramos at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.

According to Adam McCalvy’s report, Ramos sensed “serious interest” from the Brewers. Also it was apparently a “very good” meeting between the two sides. But there is interest from other teams.

How good is Ramos?  What does that mean for Manny Pina and Erik Kratz?  Will Wilson Ramos be a perfect fit in Milwaukee?  Those are questions that Brewers’ fans will probably be asking.

Ramos’ 2018 Season

Wilson Ramos spent the early part of his career in the Washington Nationals organization, but signed as a free agent with Tampa Bay in 2017.  He was traded from Tampa to Philadelphia during the 2018 season.

While playing with the Rays, Ramos played in 78 games had a slash line of .297/.346/.488 and had 14 HR with 53 RBI in 315 PA. After being traded to the Phillies, he played in 33 games and his slash line was .337/.396/.483 and he had one homer with 17 RBI in 101 PA.

Ramos was primarily a DH for Tampa Bay last season, but once he moved back to the NL he saw himself playing catcher, where he threw out 44% of the runners that tried to steal on him.

Will Ramos Fit in Milwaukee?

Milwaukee does have Manny Pina behind the plate and they did just re-sign postseason hero, Erik Kratz. But, Wilson Ramos will bring a bigger presence to the plate than what Pina and Kratz could have. Pina battled injuries for most of the 2018 season and Kratz could not really perform in run scoring opportunities.

If Ramos were to sign in with Milwaukee, more than likely that would send Kratz out because he does not have a fully guaranteed contract and will be 39 years old. That would lead to a platoon between Pina and Ramos. More than likely, Ramos would get more playing time than Pina due to him being more reliable at the position and at the plate.

But if Milwaukee would want to keep Kratz and Ramos, then Pina would likely be traded but that’s not a high possibility. Another player to think about in this scenario is top catching prospect Jacob Nottingham. He’s still just 23 years old and could be part of the future at the position. If the Brewers do believe in Nottingham, they could try to move on from both Pina and Kratz.

There’s a lot of variables in this situation. We know the Milwaukee Brewers have interest, but it’s unknown what kind of contract is being discussed and what would be necessary to sign him.