MLB Trade: New York Mets acquire AJ Ramos from Miami Marlins
By Tre LyDay
The New York Mets acquired AJ Ramos from the Marlins on Friday
The New York Mets, who are 47-53 and essentially out of playoff contention, traded away Lucas Duda to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. Well, Friday they acquired former All-Star closer AJ Ramos from the Miami Marlins. In return the Mets will send RHP Merandy Gonzalez and OF Ricardo Cespedes to the Marlins. Both Gonzalez and Cespedes are in A-ball with Gonzalez being the higher-ranked prospect in the Mets’ system at No. 9.
Sources: #Mets acquiring AJ Ramos from #Marlins.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 29, 2017
Ramos is 2-4 with a 3.63 ERA in 40 appearances this season and was on a lot of teams’ radars as we approach the July 31 trade deadline.
#Mets were not a player for Ramos until 48 hours ago, but then worked quickly and surged by teams talking Ramos for weeks with #Marlins
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 29, 2017
Since the Mets are seemingly out of the playoff race this season, the big question is why make this move? Part of the reason is because Ramos will be under club control through next season.
With Jeurys Familia under club control next season as well, the Mets would only need to re-sign Addison Reed this offseason. That is as long as they don’t trade him before the deadline, which seems unlikely at this point.
If the Mets are able to retain Reed this offseason they would most certainly have one of the better bullpens in baseball. The only problem Terry Collins would have is deciding who the team’s closer would be. Barring injury, Familia would most likely remain the Mets closer, because he’s rarely pitched outside of the ninth inning. Ramos would probably slide to the eighth with Reed pitching in the seventh and other high leverage situations.
At this point in the season the Mets are in somewhat of a transitional period and are looking to the future while trying to remain in playoff contention next season. Both Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith are on their way to the big leagues with Rosario reportedly expecting to be called up shortly after the deadline.
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Things are actually looking up for the Mets’ pitching staff as long as everyone stays healthy which is always key. Should they be able to move Asdrubal Cabrera or Neil Walker, who was activated from the DL Friday, the Mets could find themselves in contention for a playoff spot next season.