The Phillies and pending free-agent catcher J.T. Realmuto discussed a contract extension before Major League Baseball put a freeze on transactions in March because of the COVID-19 shutdown. That freeze lifted last week, but the Phillies and Realmuto have not restarted talks, as Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays.
Addressing Realmuto’s status Monday, general manager Matt Klentak said: “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]. As fas as a timeline, I just don’t know. I need to talk to them.”
Realmuto expressed optimism about a potential extension just a month and a half ago, but the game’s financial situation has certainly worsened since then. Therefore, it’s highly questionably whether any soon-to-be free agent – even a star like Realmuto, who’s regarded as the sport’s foremost backstop – will do as well on his next contract as he would have before the pandemic.
Klentak, for his part, acknowledged that the game has changed from a monetary standpoint in the past few months, saying “The landscape that we left in March is different from the one we return to now.” And while the Phillies would “still love to have [Realmuto] in red pinstripes for the long haul,” according to Klentak, he added that “there’s a lot of uncertainty in the game right now on a variety of levels. We just need to play that out.”
Before extension talks came to a halt, Realmuto’s agent, Jeff Berry of CAA Sports, may have been seeking a contract in the five-year, $130MM range for his client, Lauber reports. That payday – one that would average $26MM per year – would make Realmuto the highest-paid catcher in baseball history on an annual basis, surpassing the $23MM the now-retired Joe Mauer collected from the Twins on the mega-deal he inked in 2010 (Mauer, though, was on a much longer and more expensive contract worth $184MM over eight seasons). Whether that was a realistic asking price in the first place is debatable, but considering the sport’s less favorable financial circumstances – not to mention that Realmuto will turn 30 before the 2021 campaign begins – it will likely be even more difficult to obtain in the coming months.
Idk why but I feel like JT is going to have an exit very similar to what Mad Max had in Detroit
In my mind that ship has definitely sailed. If they haven’t extended him by now, they never will.
Why is that? Reports they were close to an extension in the spring, and then the bottom of the world fell out and they couldn’t finish it…not wouldn’t, but couldn’t. It’s doubtful they get a deal done before the season, but it’s just as likely he ends up in Philly after the season as well. Heck, depending on what happens and if it happens, JTR might even take the QO next season.
@Tom, I just can’t imagine the Phillies brass will offer a compelling enough extension for JTR to bite, in this shaky of a financial environment regarding the world of baseball (much less all else happening). If I were JTR, I would want to go to FA and see what the wider market offered rather than negotiate with just one team, even tho that team is his present employer.
That is a bad take. They didn’t really have a chance to extend him due to the freeze. And why would anyone rush to a deal in this time of uncertainty? I’m not saying an extension is a lock, but the quote “if they didn’t sign him by now…” is ridiculous.
They’ve only had since Feb 7, 2019 to extend him. That’s only 16 months as of tomorrow. But you’re right, they didn’t have a chance to extend Realmuto.
Any other bad excuses you’d like to offer?
I can’t see how anyone is going to land a normal extension. 3/65
Texas will pay top dollar. They will be eager to recruit a drawing card for 2021, when they’ll be able to sell tickets to their pricey new ballpark. Don’t forget, JT is from Oklahoma.
Honestly i dont know if JT is as much a fit as someone like Arenado is. Nolan would be bigger draw and fills a bigger need with Huff in ths system.
There’s no way JT settles for that
what a fool. “the landscape has changed.” well what hasnt is JT needs to be resigned, so get it done.
Might be a good idea to wait and feel things out. If they give him fair market value and then the market is depressed this winter then theyll look like fools
or they’ll misjudge it and lose him. JT is way too important to this team to let potentially walk.
Agreed. Klentak trying to go cheap
Klentak isnt the one who makes the decision to be cheap or not. Klentak is a bad GM but lets not scapegoat him for not signing JTR. Any GM in favor of keeping their job would try n keep their best player around
The Rockies said that about Charlie Blackmon when they gave him 6 years and $108 million and by the fall it was obvious they way overpaid.
Teams have operating losses in the tens of millions. John Middleton said the Phillies will lose $100 million. You can dispute the numbers if you like but the only people who need to believe them are the teams. And they’re cutting costs any way they can. They’re cutting pay for all employees making over a certain amount and cutting other costs.
Many, if not all, teams will look to cut payroll for next season to mitigate losses. Even if you doubt the Phillies are really losing $100 million, the reality is if the Phillies offer Realmuto the amount they might have pre-pandemic they are likely paying him far more than anyone else will.
Good comment….the money to sign or extend a player comes from above the GM level on each and every team….
Why does he “need” to be resigned? What will happen if they don’t resign him?
People will be upset and write long diatribes on the Internet
They don’t really have a decent catcher on the team outside pf JT.
He does not need to be resigned. And what does “get it done” mean?. He wants 5/$130m so you just give it and get it done?
Players are going to see a lot of money disappear for the next few years. The owners will look to recoup losses, and the opportunity is here to lower salaries substantially.
When it came to minor league players getting paid, I was on the side of the owners. This is the career you chose. You want to get paid more? Perform better. Now at the major league level, ownership has proven nothing more than greedy fools. Yes, the revenue is down, but so is your costs? I’m pretty sure all the vendors and game day workers are not getting paid. Only full time team employees. You don’t think that coincidentally right before the season starts that owners will magically find away to cover the empty seats with ways to advertise? You don’t think with ratings absolutely going up that advertising costs won’t as well? All this lost income, and a whoa is me attitude will quickly become moot. All your doing is showing that you care more about profits than winning.
Woe is me over your use of whoa.
So basically, screw the little guy, he needs to work harder, but millionaires are being exploited cuz reasons. Ok.
Middleton should step up and pay the $130 million for the best catcher in baseball. Realmuto should step up as well and show a Bryce-like commitment to Philadelphia, agreeing to the $130 over 7 years. With the likelihood of a DH in the NL long term, it’s a win/win situation.
It’s going to be very difficult for any player, JTR included, to find $130M this offseason. Why should a businessman invest that kind of money when it might not make sense. It’s a shame that the current situation has hurt basically everyone, but that’s reality. It’s not about being nice, or doing the “right” thing; it’s about business, from both sides.
i guarantee the markets of guys like JT and Betts wolnt be affected. its mid tier guys that will get harmed. top line talent isnt always sitting there in free agency, and a price drop could just put more teams in the running.
How are their markets not going to be affected? I agree that the market for mid-tier players is going to be the most drastically affected, where guys who think they should get multi-year deals will have to settle for probably one year guarantees, but the overall market is going to be different. Before all this happened, Betts was on a trajectory to land the biggest free-agent contract is sports…who is going to put up that kind of money now? Yes, costs are down due to the games not being played, but they’re not completely eliminated; and along with costs, revenues are down as well. Do I feel pity for the owners? Not one iota. They’re all extraordinarily wealthy, and the loses this season (and next season or the next 10 seasons) won’t affect their day-to-day lives. However, they will look at their team as a business, and operate accordingly.
Betts was looking at an AAV of $36M+, and 10+ years. Very few teams can afford to guarantee that much money, especially in the aftermath of this season. Those that can (still) afford it may be hesitant to go there, either due to long-term concerns or because what sense would it make to essentially bid against themselves?
Same thing for JTR. He was never going to get into the same stratosphere as Betts, but the investment is still going to be significant. As a 31 year old catcher—which he will be when his next contract begins—what kind of commitment can he expect? He has a lot of miles on him already. There’s an argument to be made that with the DH likely coming to the NL permanently that it would alleviate the concerns, but much of JTR’s value is his play behind the plate; he’s a good offensive catcher, but the reason he’s in the upper echelon of players is because of his work behind the plate too. It’d be much easier for the Phillies, or any team, to find a better offensive player (with the availability of the DH) for $23M per year.
My prediction:
Betts stays in LA for 7 years, $225M
JTR stays in Philly for 4 years, $90M
I think it’s more likely that these players take 1 year deals. Teams will be reluctant to hand out huge contracts after their 2020 losses and players may think that after a more successful 2021 and a new collective bargaining agreement the money spigots will open up.
You could have fooled me that Klentak has been that busy… His 60-man pool was just a copy and paste from ST. The Phillies 60-man roster has been panned for heavy on “never will be vets” and the high level prospects “can pound sand.”
The Phillies shot their wad last year and finished 4th, a 500 team. Now they find themselves in the middle of a Yankee- ish philosophical do or die situation – so throw more money on the fire! Can you imagine what this team is going to look like in five years when Harper cannot run and has 6 years left on a crazy contract. Yeah, sign Realmuto that will fix everything. I wonder what the ticket prices are doing in Philly?
go back to celebrating your WS and stop demeaning the rest of the division.
Without JT and Harper and Segura… they were 2 games below .500. With them they were a .500 team. That’s a lot of money for 2 wins.
This is completely devoid of any mention of the Jeckyl and Hyde pitching between those two years. Context matters. To imply that JT Harper and Segura didn’t do their jobs is insane.
I didn’t imply Harper, JT and Segura didn’t do that. I implied the team didn’t improve all that much. I think the team’s goal was to win more games and become a playoff team. By adding the offensive talent they did, they increased the scoring by 100 runs from ’18 to ’19. The pitching gave up 66 more runs. When offense increased across the entire league, both should have been expected. But it should have produced more wins that just 2.
In the National League, teams scored 1,000 more runs in ’19 than in ’18, so they increased more than the average. National League teams gave up 1,100 more runs… so the pitching actually didn’t do as badly as the majority of the other teams.
Again, this should have produced more than 2 more wins.
The Phillies tried to add Harper, Segura and JT to improve the team… and I thought for sure these would be huge improvements. It just didn’t materialize in wins.
As someone who watched nearly every Phillies game in 2019, if you think Harper, Segura, and Realmuto were the problems in 2019 then you need to watch more baseball.
I get analytics and data analysis, but you’re trying to explain everything with paper and statistics in a vacuum, and baseball just doesn’t work like that, even in this new analytics age.
Lots of problems with this take. The NL East as a whole was vastly improved last year. The 2019 Phillies set a major league record for bullpen injuries. The Phillies also had injury issues with the starting outfield Cutch, Bruce…etc. They lost multiple starting pitchers throughout the year as well. Before those injuries the Phillies were a first place team. Now that doesn’t mean the Phillies would have stayed in first without those injuries, but it’s certainly a factor. Every team suffers injuries. The key is depth. The 2019 Phils didn’t have it. In my mind the fact that the Phillies were 2 games above .500 in 2019 is a miracle given the injuries.
TL;DR you can’t just compare the 2018 and 2019 Phillies by record. Different division. Different team. The 2019 were much better than their record showed.
Any team that gives this guy $130+ million will instantly regret it! Yes he might be in conversation for best hitting catcher right now, but that’s not saying much considering the dearth of talent at the position. He’s nowhere close to Mauer/Posey in their primes, go back and look at their numbers, and won’t age well due to catching demands. And if you have to shift him to 1B/DH in a few years his numbers aren’t nearly good enough for either of those positions. We’ll see what the market will bear but I wouldn’t feel great going anything over 4/72.
This is a mixture of an odd situation and a failure of objectivity on the Phillies end…
The Phillies are backed into a corner, leverage wise, after trading away Alfaro and Sanchez for a catcher they thought would spring them into contention…
They aren’t talented enough to compete for a playoff spot as constructed and that’s with Realmuto living up to expectations…
If Realmuto walks, it SHOULD lead to Klentak getting his walking papers… He shouldn’t be allowed to survive such a colossal misstep…
Starting to look more and more like they should have not traded Sixto Sanchez to a division rival and just taken their chances on Realmuto’s FA. It’s not like they couldn’t afford to do that.
Klentak is a below average GM. But, in this case he should make the QO and see what happens. Realmuto is seeking way too much, even before Covid.
They committed to JT when they traded away their top two pitching prospects. It’s like going to the car dealership to buy the very best car on the lot, Putting 30% down then deciding to trade it back in 3 days later where you lose the 30% you put down and another 5% on top of that. The Phillies already have a huge sunk cost and can’t afford to lose more, so they should be motivated to pay more than anyone else in the market.
That wasn’t part of the deal. When they traded for JT they were trading for his 2019 and 2020 seasons and nothing more. If they didn’t think those two years of JT were worth giving up Sixto they shouldn’t have made the trade.
If the plan was to pay more than anyone else to sign him, they could have just waited until next winter to do that and kept Sixto.
This is 100% true. The deal isn’t better or worse if they re-sign J.T. Realmuto. If they didn’t make the trade they’d have the same chance to sign Realmuto after 2020 they do now.
The correct car analogy would be that you sign a 2 year lease on a car and you can now buy it if you want. You wouldn’t pay more than they’d charge someone else to buy it.
Signing Realmuto makes the deal better if and only if they have concrete evidence that he wouldn’t have signed there if they hadn’t traded for him first, all other things equal. Like say some other team offers him more $ in free agency but he takes a paycut to stay in Philly or he says that he was actively opposed to the idea of signing with the Phillies but spending 2019 and 2020 there change his mind.
But yeah, if they just offer him more $ than anyone else on top of trading Sixto for his last two arb years, that makes the trade look worse. Especially considering they are going to be seeing quite a bit of Sixto during the 2020s.
If he hits the open market he’s gone. There are far too many teams that appreciate his value and to see the Phillies talking about the “landscape” means they’re going to get budget conscious all of the sudden. And the fans are going to be pissed.
Were I Realmuto, I would tell the Philles “You paid Bryce Harper $25.4m per year through his age 38 season. I have outproduced Bryce Harper on a WAR basis the last 2 years in a row. So I want $25.4m per year through my age 38 season in an extension.”
You’re not wrong, but Phillies could easily counter with how much money Harper jerseys brought in as compared to Realmuto’s..
Jersey sales don’t win games.