Are the Nats looking for a new catcher?

There has been speculation about the Nationals potentially looking to upgrade at catcher this winter. Wilson Ramos, 28, is coming off his most durable season in the majors, but also his least productive at the plate.

Ramos slumped to a career-low .229/.258/.358 slash line with 101 strikeouts in 504 plate appearances. He also hit into 16 double plays in 128 games. And despite being named as a Gold Glove finalist in 2015, there remain concerns with his defense, particularly on plays at the plate.

After battling serious to nagging injuries during his most of his first five seasons in D.C., Ramos remained healthy in 2015. He's entering a contract year after just avoiding arbitration by agreeing to a $5.35 million salary for 2016, potentially his last with the Nationals.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports the Nationals were among a group of teams discussing a trade with the Brewers for catcher Jonathan Lucroy. The talks reportedly quieted down because of Milwaukee's high asking price for Lucroy, who also has a limited no-trade clause.

Lucroy has two more years remaining on his contract with the Brewers at $9.25 million combined, according to Baseball-Reference.com. He was originally Milwaukee's third round pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Since making his big league debut in 2010, Lucroy has slashed .282/.340/.430 over six season. The 29-year-old was an All-Star in 2014 and finished fourth in the National League MVP vote after batting .301 with an .837 OPS and a major league-leading 53 doubles.

Lucroy missed more than a month early last season with a broken left toe. His numbers at the plate dipped to .264 with seven homers and 43 RBIs in 103 games. The right-handed Lucroy has also played 50 games at first base in his career.

* After a lull in hot stove free agent action, both Chris Davis and Justin Upton have agreed to mega-deals over the past few days. Upton was the latest, agreeing to a reported six-year, $132.75 million contract with the Tigers on Monday night.

That leaves Yoenis Cespedes as the lone marquee free agent outfielder available. The Mets seemingly dropped out of the Cespedes sweepstakes early this offseason with no interest in giving the 30-year-old a long-term deal. Cespedes slugged the Mets into the playoffs after they acquired him at last July's trade deadline.

Following a wild run to the World Series, the Mets have been relatively quiet this offseason. There's a clear movement among fans and media to re-sign Cespedes in hopes of maintaining the momentum.

Cespedes hit .321 with a 1.045 OPS, smashing two homers with four doubles and seven RBIs in eight games against the Nats late last summer.