Brewers reportedly have meeting with free-agent catcher Wilson Ramos at winter meetings
LAS VEGAS - The Milwaukee Brewers have both catchers back who finished the 2018 season with them, Manny Piña and Erik Kratz, but have explored at least one possibility at upgrading that position.
Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported Tuesday that the Brewers met Monday with free-agent catcher Wilson Ramos, who came to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino to meet in person with interested clubs at the winter meetings.
Ramos, 31, split the 2018 season with Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, getting named to the American League all-star team before being traded. In 382 at-bats, he batted .306 with a .358 on-base percentage, 15 home runs and 70 RBI.
Piña and Kratz are not considered in Wilson's offensive class but are rated better defensive catchers. Much better, in fact. The Brewers also have 23-year-old prospect Jacob Nottingham waiting in the wings and recently signed career backup catcher Tuffy Gosewisch.
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Ramos, who has battled injuries in recent years, also reportedly met with the New York Mets, who have been involved in trade talks with Miami for catcher J.T. Realmuto. Other teams believed to have interest in Ramos include Oakland and Minnesota.
It is not known how many years or what kind of money Ramos is looking for but he had a $8.5 million salary last year. Kratz recently signed a $1.2 million deal, only $300,000 of which reportedly was guaranteed, and Piña is arbitration-eligible for the first time after making $560,000 last season.
General manager David Stearns has acknowledged that he has less flexibility in his payroll budget this off-season, so whether he has room to fit Ramos remains to be seen. Stearns said Monday that principal owner Mark Attanasio is open to stretching payroll if the right opportunity comes along to add value.
Stearns said later Tuesday that he had met in person with more than one free-agent player at the winter meetings but stuck to his policy of not revealing names.
"Any time we have the opportunity to get in front of a player and he has an opportunity to get in front of us, we can explain the attributes the organization has and we get to understand the player a little bit as well," Stearns said.
"Sometimes, players are looking for very specific fits. Oftentimes, it's helpful to hear about that directly from the player to determine if there's a match there."
Stearns said one positive of the success the Brewers have enjoyed of late and their reputation for having fun is that agents are telling him their free-agent players would like to come to Milwaukee.
"It means the culture that we've created, the culture that (manager) Craig (Counsell) and his staff have instilled in our clubhouse is a positive one," Stearns said. "It's one that players want to be part of.
"We said it all year and you guys saw it all year. We have fun. Our players have fun; they genuinely enjoy being together and enjoy playing. You add winning to that and it's an attractive place to be right now."