Mets sign former Dodgers top prospect after impressive Triple-A stint

The New York Mets quietly announced they’ve signed José Ramos to a minor league deal with a spring training invite — and just like that, another familiar name from the Los Angeles Dodgers' farm is wearing different colors without ever getting the call from Chavez Ravine.

Ramos wasn’t some random organizational filler. As recently as 2024, he was a top-30 prospect in the Dodgers' system. In 2025, he hit .295 with a .916 OPS at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He mashed eight homers in 44 games, delivered quality at-bats and offered real production. The kind of line that screams, “at least give me a look.” But with the Dodgers, “almost ready” and “actually getting a chance” aren’t the same thing.

Los Angeles has turned into a prospect logjam factory. Every year, there are more ready bats and arms than there are roster spots. That’s a luxury problem … until it isn’t. Because somewhere along the way, depth turns into waste. Depth turns into frustration. Depth turns into players like Ramos walking out the door with nothing but memories and a stat line that says he deserved better.

Dodgers lose former top prospect José Ramos to Mets in farm system logjam

Ramos arrived in the Dodgers' system in 2019 as a teenager and was a grinder for six seasons. He survived the bus rides, the rehabs, the position battles, the constant churn. While other names soared through the rankings or got fast-tracked to the majors, Ramos kept hitting. He kept showing up. And somehow, he kept getting leapfrogged.

That’s how these things usually end in a loaded system –– not with a debut, not with fireworks, just with a press release from another team.

Dodgers fans have seen this movie before. A guy spends years in the system, flashes real production, runs out of at-bats, and then — poof — he’s trying to break through somewhere else. And suddenly, two years from now, he’s on a highlight reel and everyone’s asking the same question:

“Wait… he was ours?”

If Ramos pops with the Mets — and don’t be surprised if he does — it’s not some indictment of the Dodgers’ development. It’s a reminder that baseball only has so many roster spots, and Los Angeles has more Major League talent than oxygen.

For every superstar who arrives, there’s a grinder who leaves quietly. For every Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman, there’s a Ramos.

Dodgers fans root for these guys from afar. We track box scores in Oklahoma City. We learn their swings, their stances, their stories. Then one day, they’re gone — and the only reminder they were ever Dodgers at all is a dusty stat page and a fan who remembers their name.

Ramos deserved a shot in Los Angeles, but he didn’t get it. Now, he gets one in New York. And every Dodgers fan should wish him the best … while also wishing it didn’t have to end this way.