2026 Non-Roster Invitee Preview: José Ramos

José Ramos was almost a Met on paper only. The Mets signed the former Dodgers prospect in late November, almost a week after the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. No one selected Ramos in the draft and now the intriguing prospect has a chance to make his major league debut with the Mets this summer!

Ramos was listed as the Dodgers’ No. 29 prospect heading into the 2024 season by MLB Pipeline, with an assumed major league debut in 2025. That didn’t happen and he was actually unranked last season. His power has been his calling card throughout the minors, as he slugged 25 home runs in 2022. He’s coming off a successful campaign last season, hitting 18 homers between Double A and Triple A, slashing .251/.326/.456. Overall, in the minors, he has slashed .254/.338/.445 over 581 games with 92 homers.

The Mets will get a quick look at José Ramos over the next week or so before he heads off to play for Panama in the World Baseball Classic. Ramos has represented his home country multiple times in international competitions. In the 2023 WBC, Ramos went 5-for-16 with a home run and five strikeouts (.313/.353/.500). In 2024, he played in the Premier12 tournament and went 2-for-17 with a home run and 3 RBI’s. The World Baseball Classic is a huge opportunity for Ramos, who should get a lot of playing time, probably more than if he were stuck in Mets camp for the first round of the tournament.

Ramos was much more likely to make his major league debut this season before the Mets’ recent signing of veteran outfielder Mike Tauchman. It is highly unlikely that he breaks camp with the Mets. The Mets currently have six outfielders on the 40-man roster (Soto, Robert Jr., Tyrone Taylor, MJ Melendez, Jared Young and Nick Morabito), plus Brett Baty may see time in right field due to all the infielders on the roster. They have four more outfielders outside of Ramos in camp on NRI’s (Ji Hwan Bae, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Cristian Pache).

Ramos’ path to majors will depend on a few things. If Benge is ready to go and there’s a path for him to play every day, Benge will get the call. If Baty is hitting and playing passable defense, he will stay in right. If there is a short-term need, there needs to be a spot on the 40-man, and Ramos will still have to leapfrog Jared Young and probably Tauchman. Ramos will also have to play better than Pache and Bae. All this is to say, the Mets’ outfield is crowded with current top prospects and former top prospects. Ramos has flashed potential before, especially in the World Baseball Classic, where he should get plenty of playing time. He has a difficult path to the majors, but one he could make at some point this year.

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