Miami Marlins: Top 5 Free Agent Targets For 2017

Free Agent Target # 3: Wilson Ramos, Catcher 

Circumstance: J.T. Realmuto Traded 

This is the scenario I’m least interested in seeing come to pass. Realmuto is just too much fun to watch, and too ascendant of a defensive catcher, to readily want to see shipped away. He’s as close to a five tool guy as you’re going to get at the catcher position. He’s not even arbitration eligible until 2018, and won’t be a free agent until a year after the next election.

But with only one season of doing it all under his belt, it’s possible that this is high as his value gets. And if someone with an extra starting pitcher feels the same way, catcher might be the most replaceable position on the free agent market.

Wilson Ramos is the guy Miami should go after if they go that route.

The track record says he’s a reliable source of 10 to 20 HRs, and he’s a career .281 hitter with RISP. The baserunning wheels aren’t there, but he’s probably a better overall catcher behind the plate than Realmuto presently is. Like Realmuto, he also only has one season of .300 plus hitting to his credit. But unlike Realmuto, Ramos is poised to cash in on his 2016 success. He might even come a little cheaper than he would have otherwise, coming off his injury.

In many ways, they’re the same player. This is purely about the lack of a pitcher worth spending the money on being available on the open market.

If he gets his desired release, Jonathan Lucroy would be a solid Plan B.