Extension talks between catcher J.T. Realmuto and the Phillies have not progressed much since the two sides held initial talks back in Spring Training, Realmuto himself said yesterday at Phillies Summer Camp (Twitter link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). The free-agent-to-be made clear that he’s not frustrated by the situation and voiced his fondness for the organization. Realmuto’s assessment of the situation aligns closely with recent comments from general manager Matt Klentak.
“Candidly, we’ve been kind of nose to the ground — intake screenings and getting people here — so I haven’t touched base with [Realmuto’s camp],” Klentak said as players prepared to report to Summer Camp. The GM added that the “landscape” has changed since initial talks in early March but stressed that he’d love to sign Realmuto to a long-term deal.
Of course, that’s not entirely up to Klentak and his front office. Realmuto is the top catcher on the upcoming offseason’s free-agent market and quite arguably the top overall catcher in the game. He’s been open in the past about advancing the market for future catchers and figures to come with a substantial asking price. He may not be able to approach the total guarantees in record contracts signed by Joe Mauer (eight years, $184MM) and Buster Posey (eight years, $159MM), as he’ll turn 30 before Opening Day 2021. However, a record annual value topping Mauer’s $23MM over a shorter term would line up with that goal. The Cardinals guaranteed Yadier Molina $20MM annually for his age-35 through age-37 seasons. All of that will factor into the asking price for Realmuto and his agents at CAA.
As is the case with all financial matters in baseball right now, that’s where the uncertainty lies. Phillies owner John Middleton hasn’t been shy about spending in the past — see: the infamous “stupid” money quote from 2018 — and has dished out a nine-figure contract in each of the past two offseasons (13 years, $330MM for Bryce Harper; five years, $118MM for Zack Wheeler). However, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports reported in early June that Middleton projected more than $100MM in losses in an email to employees. His willingness to continue aggressively spending despite those unprecedented and previously unforeseeable revenue losses is the key factor in the ongoing Realmuto saga.
Notably, the Phillies do have some substantial money coming off the books this winter. Jake Arrieta’s three-year, $75MM deal came with a two-year club option that won’t be exercised. David Robertson’s two-year, $23MM contract seemed like a quality value for the Phils at the time it was signed, but he underwent Tommy John surgery last summer. His $12MM option will very likely be bought out for $2MM. Didi Gregorius is playing on a one-year deal worth $14MM, and Jay Bruce will be off the books as well (though the Mariners are already covering much of Bruce’s salary).
In all, the Phillies have about $113MM on the 2020 books. Next year’s arbitration class doesn’t feature many big names aside from Rhys Hoskins and a bump for second-time-eligible Zach Eflin. Odubel Herrera’s contract will expire after the 2021 season, creating further flexibility.
All of that would be critical context under normal circumstances. To an extent, it likely still is. But it’s difficult to tell right now just what type of long-term dollars Middleton is willing to commit amid these revenue losses. That’s true of just about any owner in the league at the moment, really; since transactions resumed, we’ve yet to see Yasiel Puig land with a team and haven’t seen any dollars given out beyond the prorated $700K salary that reliever Jared Hughes agreed to in his deal with the Mets.
Realmuto said back in May that prior to the shutdown, he had gotten the sense in talks with the front office that negotiations “were about to start moving pretty quickly.” As we’re all aware, though, early March in many ways feels like a lifetime ago.
Paging Mr. Cohen.Paging Mr.Steve Cohen
If he hit free agent, Steve Cohen will be all over him for the Mets .And team him up with Mookie Betts
Dare to dream.
If realmuto walks it only further proves the Phillies jumped the gun on there rebuild.
I wouldn’t say jumped the gun as much as completely failed. There wasn’t much in their system. The rebuild wasn’t going to work.
Covid has likely impacted most if not all future big money, long term contracts.
As someone below said their rebuild was not very good. Their drafting was pretty bad
Yes Gabe Kapler was just one of their many problems but surely not the only one
Come on Middleton. Step in and sign this man. We can’t afford to let him get away.
The problem with the Phillies rebuild was that they didnt hit on a single superstar.
Aaron Nola?
Nola is the best of the bunch for sure. And he’s a legit ace. But sadly, he’s the only standout after years of drafting. That’s why I don’t get why people thought they moved away from the rebuild too fast. 8+ years of rebuilding failed. They needed to spend money to create a core to even build around.
Scott Kingery and Rhys Hoskins might not be “superstars” but they are completely fine players who I can’t imagine the Phillies regret drafting at this point. Then Alec Bohm definitely has superstar upside.
Seems like the Phillies have put themselves in a bit of a corner. They are in no man’s land as they were a 0.500 team last year with huge money owed to Harper for another 12 years plus they just threw money at wheeler. Seems to me they need to keep rolling up the brinks truck as they either should not have spent the money on Harper and wheeler and committed to development or throw the money at internal options and free agents. NL East is looking like a tough division these days so seems like their best hope is fighting for 3rd place and a wild card.
While I do agree mostly I feel like people should give harper a chance. We know his ceiling is higher than any player just about. His mvp year he had an ops of over 1.100….. not even mike trout has done that before. I’m Not saying he’s even close to as consistently good as trout. I’m saying his potential is super high though, he has out performed everyone before, even mike. Could have very well been a fluke year. I would wager to differ though and imagine he turns in a similar campaign in the future. He’s just a head case, but when he puts it all together he is a great player.
Not saying your hating on harper. You were just pointing out the obvious and I agree with you. I just think he deserves a chance. It’s strange how MAnny m signed for 300 and he didn’t do well at all, not even on defense compared to his standards, yet nobody criticized him. Manny never had the ceiling of harper and never turned in a season like Brice.
1 season does not make his ceiling. He’s roughly a high 800 ops player in fact he’s under 900 in nearly every season. Philadelphia grossly overpaid and they’ll be lucky to ultimately dump the contract.
This is false. Thanks.
that’s your opinion. Your entitled. The fact is he has had a better single season than anyone playing the game right now. You can’t re write history. He will start producing better. I’m fully aware of his numbers, if your reading comprehension skills where better you would have understood I did say One season. Never said he has a 1.100 ops on the regular. There was nothing I said that wasn’t true.
I wasn’t replying to you. I agree with you. Senioreditor was who I disagreed with.
And I see now you may have been replying to him as well. Lol. Sorry for the mix up.
Von purple …. no I totally agree with you.
https://youtu.be/r2L5B7ee0UQ
Harper hate is ridiculous. The guy is good. Get over it.
Right? Definitely lots of haters. Lol he has a 897 career ops. So basically .900 on the regular. I don’t know who wouldn’t want that? It’s like over a 130 ops+. I’m not saying he’s 300 million good. But he isn’t a complete bust like it’s popularly portrayed.
xSpec wasn’t hating on Harper. I think his statement was very fair. Considering the money the Phils have thrown at Bryce, Arrieta, Wheeler, Didi, McCutchen, Joe Girardi, and trading for Realmuto, making the postseason is imperative.
Wild Bill…… I understand your point. Bryce is t the only one to blame. I’m not sure if he’s worth 300 either. All I’m saying is he has a high ceiling and to give him a chance. The Yankees didn’t win the series when they first got a rod but eventually they did. The guy deserves more than one year to prove he’s worthy.
Altuve – Yes I agree with all that. I’m certainly not hating Bryce the player. The contract is a bit long, but Philly did what they had to do.
However, from here things will become difficult unless Philly is willing to outspend any future problems. Or some tough trades lie ahead. The failures don’t fall on Bryce in my opinion.
I’m with ya on that…. no denying they are in a tough spot. Not sure they swing many trades with what they have.
The one that popped in my head, although unpopular, is Hoskins. If he hits well he’s entering arbitration years and years of control. It opens 1B for the big prospect in the near future or for Bryce.
The problem? Few teams need a 1B, Rhys is due for some raises and unless he hits the return isn’t substantial.
On second thought you are right. Very few trades to swing.
Were they allowed to negotiate during the roster freeze?
Not officially
A lot of baseball fans don’t pay super close attention to the business side of the game. But for anyone who does, this should come as no surprise whatsoever. The CBA expires after the 2021 season. As many/most national baseball writers have written about ad nauseam, there is an extraordinarily high probability right now that all or most of the 2022 season will be lost due to a lockout. For that reason, most MLB teams are almost assuredly going to begin slashing payroll this winter. As a result, instead of baseball’s middle class getting squeezed on contracts as we’ve seen over the past three winters, we can also expect bigger name vets to also get squeezed and likely have to take smaller one year deals. So the fact that Philly isn’t engaging with Realmuto about a long term extension is not a surprise at all. I’d be surprised if we see ANY long term extensions from this point forward.
Can you say collusion?
Has Alex Anthopoulos been forced to resign yet?
He better hold out for a Mauer-esque deal, knowing how much money the Phillies are paying Harper and for how long and knowing that they want to avoid the illusion of having given Sixto to a division rival for nothing. Even if extending Realmuto won’t change that in reality.
Losing Realmuto would sting, no doubt. But they could put together a platoon with other free agents, such as Castro and McCann, or even platoon Knapp with a RHH and invest more heavily in another area.
It wouldn’t be a death sentence.
Unless being relegated to 3rd place every year is considered a death sentence.
3rd place if they’re lucky.
Right, because it’s not like they have any other good players, financial flexibility, or top prospects graduating soon, right?
It wouldn’t be as big of a deal if they hadn’t given up Sixto and Alfaro for him. If they miss the postseason both years with Realmuto on the roster and proceed to let him walk, they’ll have completely botched that trade
not really. the issue is there is no good replacement save some free agent patch-up. the system is mostly barren with catchers. i like Deivy, but he’s no JT.
JT looks really good in red and white. Maybe we can turn that “P” on his hat into a Nationals “W”.
Hughes has a career 4.11 FIP with a very lucky 2.88 ERA. And so many other guys are just the opposite. Lotsa luck in this game.
That’s because Hughes is an extreme ground ball pitcher and consequently relies on his infielders more than most pitchers. Thus, his FIP metrics will always be skewed as a result
Mauer is a hall of famer in my book.
im still not terribly worried. I think they can get him back as a FA, even if that’s gonna cost more. I dont know if NYM’s new owner will be one that cares to contend, and that JT is their first priority.
Realmuto will be a free agent after the season – Phils won’t even make an extension offer. I think the strategy is to let him hit the open market, see what other teams are offering, and make him a competitive offer. Can’t blame them if that is the game plan.
This is going to be one turbulent off-season. Everyone already knows the players and owners are about to go to war and there will be no quarter given. Not the best time for JTR to have goals of setting free agent records.
I think the Phillies are showing wisdom in not just giving JTR a blank check like I’m seeing on this thread. What if JTR is fighting for more than something like 5 years $125 million? What if it’s the years that he is more concerned about because 5 years is already plenty risky for someone who will start the contract at age 30 and is a catcher.
The Phillies pockets are deep but the Cubs have to be there warning sign. Those pockets have a bottom.
What happens if Realmuto opts out of playing in 2020 because of COVID? Is he then a free agent at the end of the season?
yes. players will still get service time.
No. If he’s not high-risk himself, he will not receive service time.
Only if he is ruled to be high-risk first.
Everyday catchers can’t offer much after age 32. Short deal or let him walk.
They’re going to try to get him cheap, crying about lack of revenue in 2020. And other organizations are going to happily step up and sign him. If they can’t get it done before he hits the market, he’s gone.