Ray Ramirez will not return as the Mets head trainer next season

by Tim Reilly October 03, 2017

NEW YORK METS FLUSHING, N.Y., October 3, 2017 — Ray Ramirez, who has been the Mets Head Trainer since the 2005 season, will not return in 2018. The rest of the training and conditioning staff will remain with the club for the 2018 season.

We’ve made some changes to our staff. Full details: https://t.co/ymayOOD9AM
— New York Mets (@Mets) October 3, 2017

Being a trainer is a lose-lose job. Fans will ever praise you if a team goes through a season injury-free, but you will receive the full wrath of blame when things go awry.

But Ray Ramirez has been the Mets' head trainer since 2005, and I’ve considered him the grim reaper throughout his entire tenure. If he stepped on the field and placed his hand on a players shoulder, it was just a matter of how long they would be out. Frankly, I'd rather have the Mets in the hands of Dr. Nick from The Simpsons. The team and injuries became synonymous, as Ramirez helped make the franchise a punching bag.

Keeping players healthy is an organization-wide responsibly, but his job as head trainer was to:

1) Prevent injury

2) Prevent players from further injuring themselves

3) Prevent reoccurring injuries

Ramirez failed miserably at all of these.

How many instances have there been of misdiagnoses since he arrived? How many times has the initial treatment (like putting Ryan Church on a plane with a concussion, or Ike Davis in a walking boot) wrong? Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t want to give Ramirez the satisfaction of ruining my day one last time.

The only real question I have for the Mets is: Why did it take so long to get rid of Ramirez?

Good riddance.