The Red Sox have reportedly added a slugging first baseman from Korea to their minor-league system.
Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, the Red Sox have signed former Rockies draft pick Roberto Ramos to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. The 27-year-old spent the last two years with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization.
He had his best season in 2020, slamming 38 home runs to finish second in a league that included former big leaguer Preston Tucker and future big leaguer Ha-Seong Kim.
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The 6-foot-3, 220-pound left-handed hitter made the jump overseas after being taken in the 16th round by the Rockies in 2014 out of the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif. He reached 30 homers in his final two seasons in the minors, including 2019, when he launched 30 in 127 games with a .980 OPS at Albuquerque and was named a Pacific Coast League All-Star.
The 27-year-old owns a lifetime .292 batting average and .897 OPS over six minor-league seasons. A native of Mexico, he has also played extensive winter ball in his home country.
The issue for Ramos is swing and miss. His minor-league power surge came at the expense of a 29 percent strikeout rate, an untenable number in the big leagues, let alone at Double- or Triple-A. Even in his breakout season in Korea, he still struck out roughly 28 percent of the time.
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His numbers took a hit last year, dropping to eight home runs in just 51 games. He'll likely join Triple-A Worcester.