By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The first-place Philadelphia Phillies have made a move leading up to Tuesday's 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline, acquiring catcher Wilson Ramos from the Tampa Bay Rays, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The Phillies will send a player to be named later or cash in return, MASN Sports' Mark Zuckerman reports.
In a corresponding move, left-handed reliever Zac Curtis has been designated for assignment to create room for Ramos on the 40-man roster, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
Ramos, 30, is slashing .297/.346/.488 with 14 doubles, 14 home runs, 53 RBI, 22 walks and 61 strikeouts spanning 78 games and 315 plate appearances this season.
Klentak says the best-case scenario would have catcher Wilson Ramos playing for Phillies in mid-to-late Aug. and could be as late as Sept. 1. That was factored into the trade.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) July 31, 2018
Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan, who was the first to report the Phillies' interest, writes:
The Phillies have just a half game lead in the National League East (five days ago it was 2.5), and they’re in desperate need of help both offensively and defensively. One of the team’s biggest weaknesses is at catcher. Their primary catcher is 25-year-old rookie Jorge Alfaro, who has a cannon for an arm but has struggled significantly with defense. He has a .254 batting average, but his on-base percentage is just .305 and he has 104 strikeouts in 275 plate appearances. Andrew Knapp is their back-up catcher, and he has some of the same problems Alfaro does: youth, inexperience, defense, and hitting.
Ramos is in the final year of his two-year, $12.5 million pact; the Rays will send approximately $3 million to the Phillies to help offset his remaining deal, The Athletic's Matt Gelb reports.
Ramos made his Major League debut with the Minnesota Twins in May 2010, and played just seven games before being dealt with minor-league southpaw Joe Testa to the Washington Nationals for right-handed reliever Matt Capps. In six plus seasons down in the nation's capital, Ramos slashed .268/.313/.431, highlighted by his Silver Slugger and top-20 Most Valuable Player Award-finishing season in 2016.
The Valencia, Venezuela, native is currently on the disabled list with a left hamstring injury, "and will not be healthy enough to play for a couple of weeks."
Where Wilson Ramos' #'s rank on the Phillies:
BA: 1st (.297)
HR: T-5th (14)
RBI: T-4th (53)
OBP: 4th (.346)
SLG: 2nd (.488)
Games Played: T-9 (78 same as Alfaro)— Marc Farzetta (@MarcFarzetta) July 31, 2018
