Phillies acquire All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos from Rays

The Phillies have acquired All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos in a pre-deadline trade with the Rays, the teams announced Tuesday. Tampa Bay will receive a player to be named later or cash considerations as part of the deal, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.

Ramos, 30, made his second All-Star team this year and has posted a .297/.346/.488 batting line over 315 plate appearances. He’s shown power with 14 homers and 14 doubles while posting the second-highest batting average of his career.

The catcher has been on the disabled list recently with a strained hamstring, but the Phillies were comfortable enough with his medicals to go through with a trade.

The Phillies needed help behind the plate as they look to finish strong atop the NL East. Much of their lineup consists of above-average hitters, led by outfielders Rhys Hoskins, Odubel Herrera and Nick Williams, but primary catcher Jorge Alfaro had been a weak spot in the lineup.

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Upgrading from Alfaro to Ramos gives the Phillies an even deeper lineup and allows them to use Alfaro as a backup instead of a starter. Andrew Knapp has filled in as the primary backup backstop this season.

The Rays were open to moving Ramos partially because he’s set to become a free agent at the end of the season. The catcher has an $8.5 million salary this year as part of the two-year deal he signed with Tampa Bay in December 2016.