Max

Ramirez

Ramirez was in the DH slot rather than his regular spot behind the plate. The former top prospect signed a minor league deal with the Royals back in December and essentially has no shot to make the Opening Day roster. A career .217/.343/.357 hitter in his 140 major league appearances, he’s been in six organizations over the past year.

Ramirez was one of the better catching prospects in the game a few years ago, but he’s fallen on hard times. Kansas City is his sixth organization of 2011, which has to be close to a record. Beginning in Texas, where he was DFA’d on January 3rd, Ramirez has gone from the Red Sox to the Cubs to the to the Astros to the Giants. Ramirez has a meager .699 career OPS in the majors over 144 plate appearances, but he’s always raked in the minors, posting an .867 OPS on the farm over his career. He’s a very poor defender, so Ramirez will have to solve major league pitching to ever have a hope of sticking in the bigs.

Ramirez posted a decent .300/.374/.473 with 17 homers and 77 RBI in 110 games this past season at Triple-A Omaha. The former top prospect just turned 28 years old.

He’ll also get an invitation to spring training. The 29-year-old former top prospect hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since the 2010 season, and slashed .263/.336/.375 with nine homers and 55 RBI at Triple-A Omaha this season. This move further bolsters the Reds’ catching depth, on the same day that they signed Bryan Pena to a two-year deal to be their primary backup.

Ramirez had been released by the Reds last week. The 29-year-old spent 2012-13 at Triple-A Omaha for the Royals and is now headed back there.

Ramirez was batting just .192 with a .575 OPS in 20 games this season with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, Kentucky. The former Rangers prospect should be able to latch on with a new organization rather quickly.

Ramirez, 22, was the player Cleveland acquired from the Braves for Bob Wickman last summer. A talented hitter, he was batting .303/.418/.505 in 277 at-bats for Single-A Kinston. It’s doubtful that he has a future as a regular catcher in the majors, but he has some experience at third and there’s some chance that he’ll have the bat to make it as a regular first baseman. At worst, he should have a career as a bench player. He’s a pretty good return for Lofton, who wasn’t necessarily going to bring a draft pick in return as a free agent this winter.

Ramirez was sent to the Rangers’ spring training facility in Surprise, Arizona over the weekend to began rehab. He’s batting .238 with three home runs and 32 RBI for the Oklahoma City RedHawks this season.

Ramirez was brought up for a short time to cover for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who had a bit of eye irritation. Ramirez returns to a .234/.275/.328 line at Triple-A.

Taylor Teagarden is nursing a sore shoulder at the moment, so it looks like Ramirez will get the nod if Laird lands on the DL. Ramirez isn’t an upgrade on Jarrod Saltalamacchia on defense, so he probably won’t see a whole lot of action. Teagarden, a superior defender, would have made more sense if he was 100 percent.