The Dodgers have agreed to a minor-league deal with righty AJ Ramos, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Ramos will join the club’s 60-man player pool.
This is great news for Ramos, who hasn’t pitched competitively in quite some time. He has been sidelined by serious shoulder issues since a disappointing half-season with the Mets in 2018.
It emerged only recently that Ramos was on the comeback trail. Once the Dodgers got a look at his form and related pitch tracking info, they obviously decided to jump right on the opportunity.
Now 33 years of age, Ramos looked to have regained his fastball velocity in his recent workout. But he’ll still certainly have a lot to prove once he arrives to Dodgers camp.
Ramos was long a quality late-inning arm for the Marlins, spinning 327 1/3 innings of 2.78 ERA ball over parts of six seasons. He recorded 92 saves over that span before being shipped to the Mets in an off-beat swap between non-contending teams in the summer of 2017.
If he can return to form to some extent even that could be a scary bullpen piece for the Dodgers.
Didn’t someone predict this in the last article
Yea someone did
Yeah that’s exactly what I thought
Thank you thank you I will take my correct prediction bow now lol
Good for him. Hopefully he makes it back.
dang that was quick
I forget who predicted it earlier today but whoever you are I give you a round of applause
doug.daniel something
Glad the dodgers picked him up. Always liked him as a marlins fan. Hope he succeeds.
I was wondering how bad could Ramos have been hurt to have not come back.
Good low-risk/high-reward for the Dodgers. Ramos isn’t just about physical tools, but also the mental one, which may help him adjust to the next phase of his career.
Totally agree — he’s a good “pitcher” not just a “thrower” but according to the last post he was pumping 93-95 MPH heat in his workout video — so if that’s the case he won’t even have to ‘adjust’ to the ‘next Chase’s of his career if he’s still got the raw stuff too he could really wind up being a huge signing for the Dodgers
I think it’s this is a great low risk/high reward signing for the Dodgers. As a Sox fan I was hoping Boston would sign him actually. But if he’s anywhere close to full health he could wind up being an incredibly effective and valuable P especially in a shortened season where the bullpen and bullpen depth will be more important than ever. And if winds up not being healthy or effective they can always just release him as I assume he’s not going to be guaranteed a large amount of $
The Dodgers actively trying to win, no matter the circumstances, gives me hope for the future of MLB. He could have an 8-plus ERA like Eric Gagne had with the Red Sox, but it shows that they are actively trying to take a flyer. Ramos was one of my favorite closers when MLB.TV started I wish him and the Dodgers (when they don’t play the Red Sox) the best of luck. This is what I like to see.
The Dodgers have a better track record with minor league free agents than most other teams put together, Justin Turner, Max Muncy, etc.. Wouldn’t surprise me if Ramos becomes a decent middle relief option for them. They know what they’re doing.
Friedman dumpster diving again for the pen.
fRiEDmAn dUmpStEr diVinG fOr tHe Pen. Whats Jansen, Treinen and Kelly? Thats over 100 million in contracts
And despite it all, the pen has remained a weakness for years. Apparently throwing money at the wrong players.
The pen has not been a weakness since the Colleti days. Its actually the opposite. The Dodgers won 106 games last year without Kershaw ever coming out of the bullpen. If they had used the bullpen in normal fasion they would have played in 3 straight fall classics. Problem was in game 5 Roberts had the most absurd managment of the pen you could imagine.
Honestly, you would trust this pen in a playoff series?
Yes they have more than enough quality arms
Almost on point with the keyboard trolls except you need to refer to him as “fraudman.”
Go Ramos, go Dodgers! ;-)
.
Well,that’s the bottom of the barrel.
Worth a gamble. The Dodgers have a ton of pitching. If Ramos doesn’t have it, no harm is done.
Good for him. Dude threw heat before his arm gave out.
He was really underrated from 2013 to 2016, but he never threw heat. Only averaged about 92-94 MPH on his fastball.
29 fan bases should be feeling a little bummed that their team didn’t take a chance on him. He’s not so far removed from being a highly effective reliever, I’ll be pulling for him to get back on track. Dodgers bullpen has a lot of interesting pieces after Jansen.
You obviously didn’t watch him during his tenure with the Mets. He’s done. This is a last desperate attempt to keep his career alive. I never get the fascination some fans have with expecting has-beens who weren’t all that great in their brief peaks to suddenly spring to relevance in their mid thirties.
That was quick
Friedman has a knack for finding unexpected value…..