The Phillies secured a reunion with one of their key veteran free agents Tuesday morning when they signed Kyle Schwarber to a five-year deal, and now it appears their attention will return to their other veteran hitter who reached free agency last month. Philadelphia has an offer on the table for veteran catcher J.T. Realmuto, according to a report from Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. The details of that offer aren’t presently known, though The Athletic’s Matt Gelb adds that Realmuto is “expected” to ultimately return to Philadelphia in 2026 and suggests that he may do so on a two-year deal. Even so, Gelb makes clear that Realmuto is continuing to survey the free agent market.
The veteran backstop will play next season at the age of 35 and is coming off his worst season since his rookie campaign back in 2015. Realmuto slashed just .257/.315/.384 with a 94 wRC+ in 134 games this year. It’s the third-lowest on-base percentage and the lowest slugging percentage of his career, ignoring an 11-game cup of coffee during the 2014 season. Between Realmuto’s age and down season at the plate, it might seem likely that he would be poised to find a soft market in free agency this winter.
That’s not how things have played out, however. Realmuto has established a solid floor as a two-win regular behind the plate, and that’s allowed him to remain a valuable commodity due to a dearth of catching talent around the league. Danny Jansen and Victor Caratini are the next best options available in free agency behind Realmuto, but Jansen’s 72-game 2022 season is the only campaign in either player’s career where they’ve reached the 2.0 fWAR benchmark that Realmuto has established as a floor over the past three seasons.
Additionally, teams might be less concerned about Realmuto’s near-term future behind the plate given the fact that ABS is coming to the majors in 2026 by way of the challenge system; Realmuto has been a slightly below-average blocker and well above-average at controlling the running game behind the plate in recent years, but lackluster framing numbers have held back his overall defensive value. With the challenge system likely to reduce the impact of catcher framing, perhaps teams are a little more comfortable with using a catcher with a lackluster recent track record when it comes to pitch framing than they otherwise would have been.
Whether it’s Realmuto’s steady floor or the rule changes that will impact his job in 2026, he’s managed to garner some real interest around the league this winter. The Red Sox and Rangers are both known to have interest in Realmuto, though the fit in Texas has been downplayed by significant questions regarding the club’s ability to afford the expected price tag attached to the veteran. MLBTR predicted a two-year, $30MM guarantee for Realmuto, and as the Rangers look to cut payroll this winter it seems reasonable to expect that adding a $15MM salary to the books won’t be in the cards this winter barring a payroll-reducing trade elsewhere on the roster. The same is likely to go for other teams likely to pursue catching help this winter like the Rays and Padres.
That could make Realmuto’s market something of a two-horse race between Boston and Philadelphia, and with Carlos Narvaez locked in for the lion’s share of starts with the Red Sox next year it’s easy to see why the Phillies stand as the likely favorite. Should Philadelphia reunite with Realmuto this winter, however, both Zolecki and Gelb suggest that it might be difficult for the team to make other impact additions without first clearing salary elsewhere on the roster. Gelb notes that while Philadelphia is expected to carry a payroll north of $300MM in 2026, they’re already not too far off from that mark.
According to RosterResource, Philadelphia’s luxury tax payroll sits just under $289MM after the Schwarber deal. Assuming the Phillies plan on a payroll in the same vicinity as last year’s $314MM figure, that leaves the club with $25MM left to spend. Should Realmuto take up around $15MM of that money as the club projects, that would leave just $10MM for the team to use when revamping their outfield mix. That might not be enough to re-sign Harrison Bader, who the Phillies are known to have interest in, and could instead leave them looking at some of the lesser options available in a thin outfield market like Austin Hays, Mike Yastrzemski, Mike Tauchman, and Rob Refsnyder.
Of course, another option would be for the Phillies to look to shed payroll elsewhere on their roster in order to create financial flexibility. That the Phillies are planning to move on from Nick Castellanos this winter is one of the league’s worst-kept secrets. While they evidently plan to try and work out a trade involving the veteran in hopes of saving on at least some of his $20MM salary for next year, the club is lacking in leverage to get that sort of deal done and might wind up releasing him. Gelb suggests that a trade of someone like Alec Bohm or Matt Strahm could be a more likely way to save money, and either player would certainly have more value on the market than Castellanos.
Strahm is due $7.5MM in 2026 and has been a reliable setup man for the Phillies in each of the past three seasons, while Bohm has a 110 wRC+ at third base over the past two years and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for $10.3MM in his final trip through arbitration this winter. Trading both players would free up nearly $18MM in the budget, which would be more than enough to re-up with Bader and Realmuto while still leaving some money left over to add someone like Willi Castro or Yoan Moncada to the mix who could help Edmundo Sosa handle the hot corner until top prospect Aidan Miller is ready to step into the big league lineup. Zolecki notes that Miller could be ready as soon as this coming summer, while fellow top prospects Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford figure to have every opportunity to break camp with the team on Opening Day.
While resigning shwarber and jt feels good now, in a year or 2 when the Phillies have an elderly group of Nola, wheeler, Harper, shwarber, and turner I don’t think it’s gonna look so fine then.
Don’t worry they’ll have painter…
…, Miller, and Crawford.
Thats a type window that slams shut and doesn’t open again for a generation.
That’s why it’s good they didn’t trade away their young pieces, but still, you’re right. It’s going to be ugly. Enjoying this window while I can.
And Dombrowski will skip town at that point just like his detractors told us
The Phillies look like they have maybe a two year window given the age and bad contracts on many of their players. Those contracts and the players are going to get bad really fast.
I think the contracts are fine. It’s how the market works these days. You pay a premium for their prime years at eat the loss of their old age. Harper’s contract has already been worth it. Now they’ll eat the losses of the later years.
The question is what kind of window would they have without resigning those players.
I would say he’s worth 6-10 million now. Predictions?
Wheeler is planning on retiring when his contract is up at the end of 2027. So he’s said apparently.
Phillies need to get better
Re-signing Schwarber and Realmuto makes them worse.
Similar to the Dodgers and Teoscar Hernandez last year.
And we see how that ultimately worked out for the Dodgers…
They were a last place team if I recall.
I get the feeling Dombrowski values a guy like Bohm more than most other front offices. There’s not many old school GM’s around anymore and the Wall Street types aren’t the likely to give up much value for a year of Bohm. Maybe KC, Pitt or Seattle would be interested in a bat like his but I’m not sure on how much in prospects they would give up.
Now we want Gilbert and Kirby!
Yeah Gilbert, Kirby, and all of your Elysian Dayglow IPA!
Who would play 3rd if they did trade him ? His lack of power at 3rd is what always made him very average to me
Sosa. And Otto Kemp takes Sosa’s role
Bohm career 103 wRC+
Sosa’s 98, but 101 since joining Phillies
And Sosa’s much, much better with the glove.
You don’t trade away a player for nothing. You won’t get value for Bohm. He’s a slightly above average player in his last season of control. There’s no real return that makes the trade worth it. He’s affordable.
Another factor is assuming J T re-signs, Bohm and J T are the only rh hitters hitting behind Harper. Bohm is an above average third baseman, all – around. Trading him unless you are signing Bregman, makes no sense. D D doesn’t do things that make no sense!!
In addition to an outfielder, I think they also need to sign a 6th starter/multi-inning reliever type. It looks like the rotation to begin the season will be Sanchez, Luzardo, Nola, Walker, and Painter, but they don’t really have any other candidates to start if one of them gets hurt.
I actually think we need more rotation help than that. I’m not counting on anything from Walker and Painter is a huge question mark, as is Nola.
Chris Bassett could fill that role well.
DD is a really good POBO, yet bringing back the band/old expensive core seems off and headed to stale thud. Sometimes you need to shake things up a bit and not just lineup role players. That said, more for its fans to opine what their sense is at also bringing JR back.
As a Braves fan I’m all for this. Let them field an old decrepit team.
Get JT back, keep that identity going. Stop playing the ageism card, guys, it don’t always apply. He’s a clubhouse leader, that has value.
I think the one move they need to make is with Castellanos. Trade him to LAD for a surplus reliever which it feels like they have.
Uhhhhh, why on earth would the Dodgers want Castellanos?
They need an OF and Nick could bounce back on that team. For a RP, it’s a worthwhile endeavor. Not every move they make is top of the market.
If they dont trade the big 3 prospects, the Phillies window could stay open until turner, Harper, and the Schwarbenator start seriously declining in 3 years or so.
They probably still won’t win a title, but they still keeping baseball alive in Philly.
They shpuld strongly consider moving Painter+ for Skubal if reports true Dodgers getting him.
They are not winning nothing if Skubal becomes a Dodger.
Sometimes u need to block your rivals
Soooo….. in other words, they’re just running it back. Again. Ok. What’s that expression again? Something about insanity and one’s head and a wall?
A lot of doom and gloom here. They were 1 win off the leaders last year. You can’t do anything about the guys already under contract. Who would have people signed instead of Schwarber? He had arguabl;y his best years the last two. No sign of decline yet.
Basically the Phillies are running it back with less pitching…seems a solid plan…if you hate World Series runs.
I’m all for resigning JT. Probably can get him without breaking the bank. As for an inexpensive RH hitting outfielder, I’d look at Lane Thomas. Guy has both pop and speed.
Judging from the tone of the article it appears Ranger Suarez is all but officially an ex-Phillie.
Do not want to trade Strahm. He’s been a solid LHP out of the bullpen for us for two years.
Where’s the talk of the right handed power bat that Dombrowski and Thompson made priority at their postseason press conference. So basically they are just gonna roll everybody back one year older and just be happy watching the Phillies lose in the first round for the third year in a row.
The Phillies really don’t have an option other than Realmuto. The farm is bare and other options out there are weak at best. If they trade Casty they will have to eat at least 3/4 of his salary if they are lucky and would get back a lottery ticket at best. Most likely they are going to have to exceed the luxury tax to field a passable outfield even if Crawford is MLB ready.