Astros Acquire Juan Ramirez as PTBNL in Verlander Trade
The Astros and Tigers completed the trade for Justin Verlander last night with the Astros acquiring outfielder Juan Ramirez as the player to be named later. Here is some info on the Astros newest prospects.
As mentioned above, Juan Ramirez is a young outfielder. Ramirez was signed by the Tigers in 2015 for $185,000 out of the Dominican Republic. Ben Badler of Baseball America had the following to say when the Tigers signed Ramirez:
“Ramirez has more physical projection than his 5-foot-9, 160-pound height and weight might suggest, with strong legs and projection in his upper half to grow into some more power down the road. Right now he’s a lefty who stands out for his bat, hitting in games with frequent contact and a knack for the barrel. He’s not a big runner be he as a plus arm that fits well in right field. Ramirez trains with John Carmona and played in the Dominican Prospect League.”
Ramirez played the 2016 in the DSL and hit .297 with 39 BB/21 K in 57 games. He made his stateside debut in 2017 playing in the GCL at 18 years old. With the GCL Tigers he hit .301 with 20 BB/14 K in 46 games. The lefty hitting/throwing outfielder’s best attribute is probably his bat with one scouting noting him as “bat savvy”. While he isn’t a burner, he is very instinctual in the outfield and has the arm to play in right field.
Ramirez has a chance to make his full-season debut next year with the River Bandits and would do so at just 19 years old. The Astros have been very successful scouting the backfields and the GCL acquiring lower level talent in other deals like David Paulino, Francis Martes, and Jonathan Arauz, just to name a few. Great to see the Astros get a legit prospect back in this deal to help balance the prospect cost.
Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly updates on the Astros minor league system. Also be sure to follow on Twitter, @AstrosFuture, and like my Facebook page, facebook.com/AstrosFuture.
