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| Ramos was voted he AL All-Star starting catcher this year |
As the 2018 MLB trade deadline was approaching on Tuesday afternoon, the Philadelphia Phillies finalized a deal to acquire nine-year veteran catcher Wilson Ramos from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first broke the news early on Tuesday afternoon via Twitter that club was “deep into talks” with Tampa regarding the soon-to-be 31-year-old native of Venezuela.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak and his counter-part with the Rays, Erik Neander, worked to hash out the details as the afternoon rolled along.
As those initial details began to leak, Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline tweeted out that the Phillies would not be surrendering any top prospects.
Ramos is currently on the 10-day disabled list due to a hamstring issue. It was reported last week that Ramos was able to complete catching drills at Tropicana Field on Thursday, and was scheduled to catch a live bullpen session on Saturday.
The injury caused Ramos, voted by fans as the starting catcher on this year’s American League all-star team, to miss the mid-summer classic.
Klentak later spoke to the press and revealed that the Phillies had acquired Ramos and cash considerations in exchange for a player to be named later and/or further cash considerations.
The GM also revealed that Ramos was not expected to return from the DL until at least mid-August, and might not be available to the Phillies until September 1st.
Ramos was originally signed by the Minnesota Twins as a teenage amateur free agent out of his native Venezuela back in 2006. He broke into the big leagues with Minnesota in 2010, and then was dealt to the Washington Nationals that year at the trade deadline.
With the Nationals, Ramos became a regular for the first time the following season. He finished fourth in the 2011 NL Rookie of the Year voting, then made the NL all-star team in 2016. Ramos also was awarded the NL Silver Slugger Award for catchers at the conclusion of that 2016 campaign.
