Former Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos has agreed to a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, a source confirmed Tuesday night to ESPN's Jim Bowden.
Ramos, 29, was originally signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 2004. A native of Venezuela, he debuted with the Twins in May 2010 and was traded to the Washington Nationals later that season. The 6-foot-1, 255-pound catcher is a .269 hitter in 585 career games.
In 2016, Ramos had a career year, setting personal bests in average (.307), home runs (22) and RBIs (80). He finished ninth in the NL in batting and was named an All-Star for the first time in his career.
But on Sept. 26, he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee after jumping up to receive a relay throw at home plate.
It was the second time in the past four years that Ramos has torn his right ACL. Without him, the NL East champion Nationals lost to the Dodgers in the first round of the 2016 playoffs.
Since the beginning of 2014, Ramos has thrown out 38 percent of would-be base stealers, the highest rate among NL catchers with 100 games played.
ESPN Nationals reporter Eddie Matz contributed to this report.