The Mets are serious about trading for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, according to SNY's Andy Martino. If they miss out on him, though, the team has a few Plan B's.
That pivot would be to free agents such as Yasmani Grandal, Wilson Ramos, and Martin Maldonado, Martino noted on Monday.
With the Marlins' asking price for Realmuto being astronomical, though it has reportedly come down a bit, the Mets going after one of the free agent catchers might make more sense.
In any deal for Realmuto, the Mets -- according to Martino -- would need to part with at least one major league piece such as Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, or Amed Rosario and likely more.
The only scenario where the Mets would be able to justify having a no-hit, defense-first catcher as their starter is if they add offense in another area. If they do that, Maldonado might make sense.
If they don't add offense in another area, Grandal or Ramos would be the Mets' best fit.
Grandal, 30, was worth 3.6 fWAR in 2018 (second among all catchers in baseball, behind only J.T. Realmuto's 4.8). He hit .241/.349/.466 with 24 homers in 140 games. Behind the plate, where Jay Jaffe notes he is one of the best pitch-framers in baseball, Grandal was worth 9 DRS.
One potential issue with Grandal is that since he rejected a qualifying offer, the team that signs him will be forced to surrender a pick in next year's MLB Draft -- though not a first-round pick.
Ramos, 31, hit .306/.358/.487 with 15 homers in 111 games in 2018 split between the Rays and Phillies. His career line is .273/.317/.439, and three of his four best seasons in terms of slugging percentage have come the last three years.
He was a bit below average this past season when it came to DRS behind the plate (-5), but had the best caught stealing percentage in the majors (44 percent).