Ideally, AJ Hinch said Tuesday afternoon, the Tigers would fill their need at catcher in free agency.
"In a perfect world, there’s still a guy out there that can help us," he said. "Whether the market produces that, whether that’s how we decide to spend our dollars, that’s up to Al."
By Tuesday night, Al Avila and the Tigers were finalizing a one-year, $2 million with two-time All-Star Wilson Ramos, according to Jon Heyman.
Ramos, 33, spent the past two seasons with the Mets, hitting .276 with 19 homers and a .748 OPS. He was an All-Star in 2018 with the Rays when he led big-league catchers in both average (.306) and OPS (.845).
Ramos earned his first All-Star nod with the Nationals in 2016 when he finished second among catchers in average (.307) and third in OPS (.850).
It'd be a stretch to expect Ramos to perform at an All-Star level this season for Detroit. But he's an upgrade over Grayson Greiner and Jake Rogers. His overall numbers last year weren't pretty, but he shook off a slow start to post an .824 OPS over the final three weeks of the season.
More importantly than what he does at the plate, Ramos will give the Tigers a steady presence behind it. The team's young pitching staff, namely Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, should benefit from his experience calling games.
Detroit's catchers combined for a WAR of minus-3.0 over the last two seasons. Ramos, over the same span, produced a WAR of 2.5. An upgrade, indeed.