NEW YORK -- The Mets acquired their starting catcher when they signed Wilson Ramos to a two-year, $19 million contract, with a club option for a third year, this week.
Ramos was introduced to the New York media late Tuesday morning, and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen is convinced that the 31-year-old can stay healthy for a full season even though the backstop has spent a lot of time on the disabled list since 2012.
Ramos underwent two major surgeries on his right knee in 2012 and '16. He missed time due to a left hamstring injury in 2013 and a left hamate bone injury in 2014. Last year, Ramos, who spent time with the Rays and Phillies, missed the All-Star Game and landed on the DL because of a left hamstring strain. The last time Ramos went a full season without injury was 2015.
• Mets call Ramos a perfect fit
But everything is different this offseason. For the first time in a long time, Ramos said he is not in rehab mode and is able to perform normal workouts.
"I'm very happy to be doing everything. Rehab is bad. It's not fun. Right now, I'm 100 percent. I can do everything that I want," Ramos said. "I'm doing a lot of things -- running, agility stuff, lifting. I couldn't do that before because I was trying to get my knee stronger. Right now, it's totally different."
Ramos and Van Wagenen met during the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, where they talked about Ramos' defense and his knee. After conducting extensive research on Ramos' medical files, Van Wagenen is convinced that Ramos can catch at least 120 games.
"Obviously, we did a physical examination on him," Van Wagenen said. "And we were able to get a really good detailed video of some of his workouts that he was doing this offseason. As he said, this is the first offseason in a long time he hasn't had to rehab an injury. … We were very comfortable with that, and he is extremely confident that he will be able to be the primary guy and be on the field for us next year."