The Los Angeles Dodgers were stacked at just about every position this season, but they never found the perfect mix in the outfield.
With a down year from Teoscar Hernández and Mookie Betts’ full-time move to shortstop, the Dodgers wound up ranking 18th out of the 30 teams in outfield fWAR at 4.3. As they mulled over a potential pursuit of superstar free-agent right fielder Kyle Tucker, the Dodgers just let a much lesser-known outfielder walk.
On Wednesday, longtime Dodgers farmhand Jose Ramos signed his first professional contract with another organization, the New York Mets, per the transactions log on his official roster page. It’s a minor-league deal for the 24-year-old, who first came to the Dodgers as an amateur signing in 2018 and spent this past season splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A.
Ramos elected free agency on Nov. 6, and one thing that stands out is that he’s noticeably younger than most minor-leaguers who get the opportunity to make that particular career move. He’s someone the Dodgers likely had moderately high hopes for, as he peaked at No. 14 on the team’s top prospects list from MLB Pipeline back in 2022.
If Ramos has a calling card, it’s his power. He’s hit a respectable 92 home runs in 580 minor-league games, including 18 in 102 games this past season. He was promoted to Triple-A for the first time in his career in July, and in the offense-heavy Pacific Coast League, he shined.
Ramos put up a .916 OPS in 44 games with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets. He then quickly left the organization he’d known for 7 1/2 years, so he must have felt as though the Dodgers weren’t going to give him a shot at major league playing time this year.
New York also just traded away left fielder Brandon Nimmo, so although it’s highly unlikely Ramos is their first choice to take over Nimmo’s starting job, there’s at least an opportunity for new blood to come in and push for playing time, either right away or somewhere down the road.
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