The Yankees are heading into October without Aaron Judge, and that puts a surprising former Giant in the spotlight. Heliot Ramos, shipped from San Francisco to New York at the trade deadline for minor league lefty Henry Lalane and Jeff Kent’s son, infielder Kaeden Kent, suddenly has a real chance to matter in the postseason.
New York locked up the top AL Wild Card spot at 93-68, but Judge’s absence hangs over everything. He played only 66 games because of a fractured upper rib and, more recently, a moderate right calf strain. That calf issue will keep him out for at least the Wild Card series against the Red Sox, and his status beyond that remains uncertain if the Yankees move on.
That leaves the Yankees searching for offense, and Ramos is one of the bats they can lean on. His first few months in pinstripes have not gone well: through 38 games, he has hit .198/.309/.379 with -0.4 WAR.
His 93 wRC+ has been helped a bit by an 11% walk rate, which is above his career 7.3%. Before the trade, though, he was more productive with San Francisco, putting up a 101 wRC+ and 1.0 WAR in 74 games.
If he can even get back to that level - or to the 120 wRC+ he posted in his 2024 All-Star season - the Yankees would take it.
The fit is obvious because of the matchup. With left-handed hitters like Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Luis García Jr. in the mix, Ramos becomes one of the right-handed pieces the Yankees can use to round out the lineup.
He, Paul Goldschmidt and the returning Giancarlo Stanton are the main righties available to slide into the middle of the order while Judge is out. And Ramos has long handled left-handed pitching better than right-handed pitching, which matters with Boston expected to lean on lefties such as Payton Tolle and Ranger Suarez in the Wild Card series.
That split has been there for Ramos throughout his career, and it’s still there in 2026. Against left-handed pitching, he owns a career .862 OPS and 138 wRC+, compared with a .682 OPS and 93 wRC+ against same-handed pitching.
This season, the divide has been even sharper: .907 OPS and 150 wRC+ versus lefties, versus .651 and 81 against righties. The Yankees may treat him like a platoon bat, but with two-thirds of the starting pitchers they could face being left-handed, he’s positioned to play a major role.
FanGraphs has him batting third between Bellinger and García, which would put him right in the middle of the action.
For Giants fans, Ramos still leaves behind plenty of good memories. His bat was the main attraction in San Francisco, and he also ended the club’s infamous 19-season run of using a different Opening Day left fielder after Bonds’ retirement. The return for him looks promising, too, and there’s obvious appeal in having Jeff Kent’s son in the organization.
San Francisco won’t miss the defense in left field as much as it will miss the power. Even so, the outfield picture for next year looks fairly strong, with Jung Hoo Lee, Drew Gilbert, Jonah Cox, Turner Hill, Victor Bericoto, Bo Davidson and Casey Schmitt among the options on the grass.
That group doesn’t bring much pop outside of Schmitt, who is more likely to play second base anyway, but the infield has enough slug to cover for it. The bigger need for the Giants appears to be on the pitching side, with the lineup looking largely healthy and set for next season.
In Other News...
Giants Offseason Reset Starts With One Roster Problem They Can't Ignore
The Giants offseason reset has already taken shape around one unavoidable truth: the roster is short on answers, and the holes are spread across the board. After finishing 65-97, San Francisco heads into the winter needing to rebuild the starting rotation after trading Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle, while also sorting out a bullpen that needs help and an outfield that still lacks a dependable everyday feel.
There is plenty of work left beyond the obvious pitching concerns. The Giants also have to settle a plan at second base and navigate a crowded 40-man roster with a number of players under team control and others working back from injury. It is the kind of roster puzzle that can make every move matter, and for a club trying to move past a lost season, the first step is figuring out which problem has to be solved before the others. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Face Awkward Zach Morgan Question Heading Into The Offseason
Zach Morgan spent about 10 days on the Giants active roster this season, getting called up twice and never actually getting into a game. Even with a chance to find him a role late, including the final weekend of the year, San Francisco never brought him back onto the field, leaving his time on the big-league roster as more of a roster-management footnote than a true audition.
Now the Giants have to sort through a crowded offseason picture at catcher and elsewhere on the 40-man roster, with injured-list decisions also hanging over the mix. Morgan is part of that broader puzzle, and the question is no longer just whether he can help, but whether the Giants see enough of a path to keep carrying him through the winter. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Suddenly Have Two Rotation Hopefuls Worth Watching Closely
The Giants spent much of the season fighting through a pitching staff that never quite held together, and the injuries and thin depth were a big reason they finished fourth in the NL West. Even so, the late surge from Matt Wilkinson and Anthony Molina gave the organization something to circle going into the offseason, with both pitchers showing enough promise to at least get themselves into the conversation for spring training.
Tony Vitello already noted that Wilkinson could help in more than one role, whether as a starter or in a long-relief job, and that kind of flexibility matters for a club still sorting out its rotation picture. Molina is in the mix too, which gives San Francisco two younger arms worth tracking as camp opens and the Giants try to turn a troublesome season on the mound into a more stable one. [Read more 🡒]