The biggest question about the Phillies season has been answered.
JT Realmuto is back.
The All-Star catcher, who became a free agent at the end of the 2020 season, has reportedly agreed to a five-year contract with the Phillies. The deal is worth $ 115.5 million and has an average annual value of $ 23.1 million, the highest ever for a catcher, and tops former Minnesota Twin Joe Mauer’s annual salary of $ 23 million.
Realmuto will earn $ 20 million in 2021 (with $ 10 million deferred) and $ 23,875 million in the four seasons thereafter.
Realmuto, which turns 30 on March 18, joined the Phillies in February 2019 in a deal with the Miami Marlins. He is widely regarded as the best all-round catcher in the game.
The agreement between Realmuto and the Phillies ends almost two years of repeated negotiations between the two parties.
The Phillies tried to extend Realmuto’s contract shortly after acquiring him and back in spring training 2020, but both times fell short. Realmuto shunned the Phillies for free agency two years later and would only give up the price for a very rich deal. Realmuto has made it clear several times during interviews over the past year that he believes catcher salaries have lagged behind other players in the game, and he has dedicated himself to raising the bar for all catchers, whether in a major expansion or on the market for free agencies.
According to various sources, Realmuto sought a more than $ 200 million seven-year deal when talks between him and the Phillies were closed due to the March pandemic.
When Major League Baseball lifted its moratorium on deals and negotiations in late June, Phillies general manager Matt Klentak expressed some gloom over the team’s chances of retaining Realmuto when he spoke of a ‘change’. financial landscape in the game due to a shortened 2020 season. and revenue losses caused by the pandemic.
“We just have to let it play,” Klentak said.
In search of a record payday for a catcher, Realmuto becomes a free agent shortly after the World Series, but the market for its services has never been as strong as he and his advisers expected. The New York Mets, a team with deep pockets and a need for catchers, signed a cheaper option in James McCann and other teams that may have had a need behind the plate, reduced spending or used their limited resources to address other positions. One of the teams was the New York Yankees, who spent their free agent money on retaining second baseman DJ LeMahieu rather than dropping them in need at the catcher.
There were several other possible landing sites for Realmuto that never materialized, most notably Toronto, which used its free agent dollars on fielder George Springer.
Eventually, Realmuto’s market swung right back to Philadelphia. The Phillies, as Klentak had already said in June, made things play out and eventually ended up with their husband. Unfortunately, Klentak was not there to lead the final stages of negotiations and the agreement. He was fired after five losing seasons in October and replaced by veteran Dave Dombrowski in December. One of Dombrowski’s first moves was to visit Realmuto in person in the player’s home state of Oklahoma two days before Christmas.
“It’s clear why everyone in the Phillies organization thinks of JT as well as a person and a player,” Dombrowski said of the meeting.
Realmuto becomes the third player in the Phillies series with a contract worth more than $ 100 million, joining outfielder Bryce Harper, who begins the third year of a 13-year, $ 330 million deal, and Zack Wheeler, who participates the second. year of a $ 118 million five-year agreement.
The return of Realmuto will make the clubhouse happy. He’s one of the most respected players in the room, and the whole baseball, for that matter, because of his quiet, serious, head-down hard-working approach to the game. Harper, known for his sis and flash, is one of Realmuto’s biggest fans and he spoke loudly about the team signing his favorite player again.
“JT Realmuto should be our catcher next year – simple and straightforward,” Harper said after the final game of the 2020 season.
The biggest question about the Phillies season has been answered.
JT Realmuto is back.
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