Former Phillies catcher Wilson Ramos signs with rival Mets

One of the Phillies best hitters last year has signed with their division rival

Phillies general manager Matt Klentak’s biggest trade deadline acquisition has reportedly signed a new deal.

Catcher Wilson Ramos has reportedly signed a two-year deal with the New York Mets, pending a physical, worth $19 million with a third-year option.

Philadelphia acquired Ramos from the Tampa Bay Rays at the trade deadline for cash despite a hamstring injury. Once healthy, Ramos was a lightning rod for a stagnant Philadelphia lineup, going 3-4 in his Phillies debut on August 15.

Ramos played 33 games for Philadelphia, hitting .337 with 10 extra-base hits and 17 RBI, a tremendous upgrade over backup catcher Andrew Knapp.

Philadelphia is back at square one with their backstops Knapp and Jorge Alfaro, who hit a combined .230 with a 0.9 WAR last year.

Best case scenario for the Phillies would be Alfaro taking a step forward and proving he can be the catcher of the future. A .262 batting average in his first full year as the starter is nothing to sneeze at, but the Phillies want him to cut down on his 138 strikeouts.

If he qualified, Alfaro’s 36.6 strikeout percent would have been the second-highest in baseball last year, and by far the highest rate among National League hitters.

Philadelphia had been linked to a potential J.T. Realmuto trade, but they reportedly “don’t have enough” to get the Marlins star catcher. Adding Realmuto would give the Phillies a big bat in the middle of their lineup, but didn’t make sense in a lot of ways.

A lot of veteran catchers who can mentor Alfaro remain on the free agent market, including former Phillie A.J. Ellis. Nick Hundley and Matt Wieters are two other options on the open market, while Alex Avila is a potential trade candidate with Arizona.