There hadn’t been much progress in extension talks between J.T. Realmuto and the Phillies as of two weeks ago, and the All-Star catcher’s latest update revealed that not much has changed. “Nothing’s happened thus far,” Realmuto told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber and other reporters. “To be honest, I’m focused on the season at this point.”
The latter comment could indicate that negotiations may have been somewhat tabled for the time being, given that most players try to avoid having contract talks stretch into the season in order to stay fully focused on baseball. That logic could be particularly apt heading into the 2020 season, as players already have so many other concerns hanging over them given the unusual circumstances of the 60-game campaign. The same could also be true on the front office side, as Phillies GM Matt Klentak said almost a month ago that he hadn’t yet spoken to Realmuto’s agents since the team was occupied with the many details involved in launching its Summer Camp.
The Phils still have exclusive negotiating rights with Realmuto until free agency officially opens (five days after the conclusion of the World Series), so there’s plenty of time for the two sides to work out a long-term agreement. That said, stars of Realmuto’s caliber usually don’t get that close to the open market without indeed seeing what other teams have to offer, especially since Realmuto is now perhaps the biggest name available in the 2020-21 offseason now that Mookie Betts is under contract to the Dodgers through the 2032 season.
Speaking of that extension, Realmuto was pleased by Betts’ mega-deal, saying “it was good to see [Betts] get what he deserves.” The impact on Realmuto and other top free agents also wasn’t lost on the catcher.
“It was definitely positive to see for baseball knowing that teams still do have that money,” Realmuto said. “Like I mentioned a few weeks ago, I still think that the teams at the top of the market are going to be willing to spend money. Some teams are going to take advantage of the situation where half or maybe three-quarters of the league might not be interested in spending as much money. Other teams are going to really go for it and push for those players.”
Past reports have suggested Realmuto and his camp is looking for a deal in the range of five years and $130MM, which would set a new average annual value ($26MM) record for a contract given to a catcher. While a hefty sum, it is still far less what it would have taken for another team to sign Betts, assuming he could have found anything close to the $365MM over twelve years that he got from Los Angeles. While signing a catcher to such a big deal obviously carries inherent risk, teams that were planning on taking a run at Betts this winter might now shift their attention to Realmuto, who presents a big upgrade on virtually every catching situation in baseball.
thank goodness the team won. my day otherwise has been so terrible.
Fax
At this point I think we should just accept that JT will be a FA
Not a given. The Phillies’ owners have deep pockets and have shown a willingness to spend if they can win.
Good point but if nothings happening now, and JT is so close to free agency he’s probably just going to go that route. The Phillies can always resign him in free agency with all of the money coming off of the books
prevailing thought around baseball is the team is willing to let JT test free agency and that he seems to want to anyway, but the team is thinking that he may hit the depressed market and they can get him for less then an extention would have costed, and worse case scenario if thats not true they’ll outbid and perhaps overpay to keep him given the organizational need.
sorry didnt mean arround baseball, rather arround the city.
The Phillies likely will make him a qualifying offer. That depresses the market with some players. With some teams likely opting out of the market this winter, that’ll reduce the pool further. If he’s looking to set a record, it might make sense to take it and then go for the big payday in a year when the market is more favorable and there’s a new CBA.
The Phillies have a mixed history on free agent bidding recently. They waited out Arrieta and Harper and got them for prices that were less than people expected. They struck early on Santana and McCutcheon and those deals turned out to be higher than what others got.
I think they should decline to extend him the QO as a showing of goodwill and to make him more amenable to signing. They don’t get an extra draft pick if they sign him anyway, regardless of whether or not they QO him. And their endgame IS to sign him.
Well the QO suppresses his market so they don’t have to pay him as much. Given they haven’t signed him yet, that’s exactly what they are looking for.. any reason to pay him less
QO is not a big deal with a guy like JT…. Now Jake Ordoozi on the other hand sure it comes into affect-
Nobody has a clue whats gonna happen…Remember Mookie was going to test free agency? Very good odds if hes looking fresh this year they bring a big deal to the table
Dude do you actually think that Realmuto will not get his number when he hits FA? And if by some miracle he doesn’t, do you think that he would come crawling back to the Phillies for their number? Not happening.
@Commonsenseslapsyou…
“Well the QO suppresses his market so they don’t have to pay him as much.”
So just pay the man! It’s not like they can’t afford to. It’s not like he doesn’t fill a need on the team. They need to stop viewing each other as enemies.
@The Human Rain Delay…
“QO is not a big deal with a guy like JT.”
Exactly! The QO only matters if they aren’t able to keep him. If they do keep him they get no draft pick regardless of whether or not they QO him. And since their endgame is to get him signed it really doesn’t matter.
Anyone have some metrical insight into how JT’s defense will age, how awesome it is? Cuz in terms of big contract, to me it depends on his catching ability, we know he’s a good hitter. Even if he declines his bat will still hold up if the D is awesome.
as a Phillies fan, i can say it cant be understated. throws out baserunners like no one else in baseball today. unbelieveable durability, so he should be able to stick behind the plate a bit longer. managed to call games that allowed a mediocre pitching staff complimented by a bad offence to still finish .500 last year. trust me, even as a fan without constant TV access to the games, everything ive seen says this guy is the full package catcher.
Molina might disagree.
JT has been roughly 2X better defensively than Molina for the past 3 YEARS according to advanced statistics. He can disagree all he wants, JT is currently the best in the business. The only one that comes close otherwise is Grandal.
Given the uncertainty of the times, Phillies are gambling that he’d get less in FA than he’s asking for now. They can sign him as a FA. I think this gamble will backfire as the Betts signing just changed everything.
to be fair, Betts is a very different player from JT, and its not impossible that the Dodgers simply didnt want to risk losing him. i agree that thinking JT will be disaapointed as a free agent is wrong, but he seems to want to test FA like he tested arbitration. i think they would have to offer him quite a bit to extend him, and they will probably go deep into a bidding war to bring him back if that’s what it takes. that sort of player is hard to replace, and it would disgruntle Bryce, the pitching staff, and maybe even Bryan Price, which they’d probably prefer not to.
Good points here. I agree.
Disgruntle Bryce? What’s he gonna do? Sit out?
I’m really curious to see what the Phillies do this offseason and how this plays out with JT. They have a fair number of guys becoming free agents this offseason, I’m wondering who stays and goes.
I have to think the lack of extension means the Phillies think JT is overvaluing himself. Risky gamble given how bad the catcher position in baseball is, even though JT is clearly aiming high. At same time, both LAD and NYY likely dont spend on a catcher next year, and add SF too. Fair number of potential Betts teams that don’t really need a catcher. He could hit an awkward market. I’m intrigued
Division rivals could snap him up. The Mets in particular would be willing to pounce.
Mets, Angels, I agree with others who say Phillies will go hard to resign even if he reaches FA. It won’t be dead.. but could be a lot less than he hopes for and end up with 2 or 3 teams staring at each other with similar 100-115M offers
I would put Red Sox as most likely signor. The whole thing with Betts was they wanted to be responsible in not giving out a 12-13 year contract. If they can get the best player at his position on a 5-6 year deal, well that’s the type of move they would likely make to regroup.
Mets- yes, great landing spot and great payroll room (way more than Philly one would think ) although they are gonna need to sign some Sps next offseason
Angels – Please No I cant hear Angel fans whine about how bad their pitching is for another year- The Angels shouldnt invest another penny on offence next year with Trout Upton Adell in the Of and Rendon Pujols and feletcher in the inf already…. and yes that means letting Simba walk
You will get some wildcards as well possibly Cincy Sea or an upstart team like Det where he could help all those young arms
JT will be in a Mets Uniform in 2021
BVW is his Former Agent & Will sign Him
Jeff Berry has been his agent for years. While Berry and Brodie Van Wagenen both worked at CAA Van Wagenen never represented him.
Will be signing with the Mets in 2021…New ownership will lock it up
he can certainly come to the angels to win multiple world series!
Who’es gonna pitch?
He used to be a Marlin. Now he’s the center of the Phillies brand “O”. Make him an offer….he can’t refuse.
If Cohen buys the Mets look out
You Know it
Mets fans act like the team hasn’t spent money up until now and they’ll suddenly start spending. The team’s luxury tax payroll is only $12 million below the Phillies and $6 million below the Nationals. They could certainly blow past it but that’d be unusual these days. While the Mets haven’t been excessive spenders their bigger problem has been spending money badly. More money doesn’t cure that.
In a normal off-season, the Mets, like a lot of teams, would have the money to meet Realmuto’s demands. Of course this won’t be a normal off-season.
Some logic here. I don’t understand the myth that the Mets don’t spend. Cespedes made more than Bryce Harper in 2019 for example.
I’m not sure how COVID will impact how franchises approach free agency but Realmuto would get pretty close to his target in a normal free agent year if he hits the open market. Russell Martin and Yasmani Grandal were probably the best catchers to hit free agency within the last few years and both got paid even while being much older than Realmuto.
I’ll preface this by saying I haven’t watched a ton of his games so maybe he has more value as a game Caller etc. than I know. But personally based on his offensive numbers and that he isn’t particularly young — I feel like he’s asking for a little bit too much. I mean granted he might be able to get “overpaid” being one of the better catchers in baseball BUT my gut feeling is that if a team gives him a big long term deal… it’s not going to work out all that well for them in the final couple of seasons. I just don’t think most catchers age particularly well… and to me his offense is only really considered “good/great” because he’s a catcher. If he were a 1B/DH he would just be middle of the road offensively, if that. So his value will really come from his ability to stick at C long term… and even then, to me just a mild decrease offensively and you’re looking at a “good but not great” player, and if I were the Phillies I’m not sure I’d want to give $130+M for that.
Someone had better let Mr.Cohen know that a condition of purchasing the Mets is signing JTR.
Might as well see how the team plays between now and the deadline.If they look like they can contend,hold onto him and take the chance of losing him for the compensation pick.And if they’re a bubble team,or worse,then trade him for prospects,and then try to resign him in free agency.
It’s code talk. “Give me another guaranteed year on the contract. If you don’t, I’ll walk.
Anyone else feel like it doesn’t really matter who the Phillies will put out there, they’ll underachieve regardless?
No
Kapler was their biggest problem 2019
This is a top 5-10 spender yearly in a time where money will have even more flexing power than ever
They will be fine, albeit its a damn tough Div to make hay in
Put them in the Central, they are my favorites to win the Div
From the outside seemed like their vets getting hurt and/or sucking was the bigger problem Than Kapler
Marlins aren’t a terrible team, but the Phillies losing 2 of 3 against them is exactly what I’m talking about. They got whipped in game three, even after the Marlins starter and two others, plus Alfaro, were lost to covid. In game three the Phillies had the same amount of hits as the Marlins and walked seven times, but only scored 6 runs.
If the Phillies let him slide, hope my Braves get him. Wishful thinking but it’s fun to dream
Starting spot is probably around $150mill. Would not be surprised that he gets a bigger contract that’s Mauer.
Craig Mish even threw out $200mm this week.
I find it hard to believe someone is going to give him 150 million or more. He’s 29 with a lot of games and innings under his belt. Without looking it up, he’s probably top three for innings caught since he became a regular in 15. You really think teams will pay a 30 year old catcher (his age in the 2021 season) around 30 million a year into his mid 30’s?
Great hitter for a catcher, but if a team moves him to DH or 1b to decrease his workload his bat becomes average or slightly above average.
Again, I just don’t see teams shelling out that much money for a catcher with a big work load going on the back end of his career. It’s like giving a huge paycheck to an old workhorse running back, just doesn’t make sense.
Don’t let him touch free agency. Someone WILL give him more than what he is worth. Realmuto is the best catcher in baseball… today. He is 29. 30 next spring. How many years would you pay for him to be the premiere catcher in baseball? Remember Buster Posey. Best in the game. That lasted two years and the Giants have been saddled with him for the past 5-6 years. Below average player now. Realmuto has 3-4 more good years left in him. Every player goes down hill after they turn 28. I Hooper the Phillies don’t spend stupid money on him. A lot of great FRee Agents to do that with next year!
Nelson Cruz would like a word
He will be a Phillies. They just don’t want to overpay too much
Fire the reporter who asked JT the question about a contract extension. The season has started. Stop asking him that question. Inappropriate time to bring that up. The next time that question should be asked is 5 minutes after the final out is made on the Phillies season.
50% of his hits this season have been home runs. You can’t argue with that kind of production.
Prime contenders for Realmuto’s services: Angels, Braves, Mets. If I was a betting man, I would say Atlanta unless they make a trade for Lindor (they have the prospect capital to do so).