Realmuto re-signs with Phillies

The “Sign J.T.” chants from fans gathered outside the ballpark during the pandemicaltered season and echoed by Bryce Harper and many players on the Philadelphia Phillies were loud and clear.

It’s happening.

The Philadelphia Phillies and two-time All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto agreed Tuesday on a $115.5 million, five-year contract, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.

Both people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Realmuto’s deal was pending a successful physical.

Realmuto gets $20 million next season, of which $10 million is deferred, with $5 million each payable in 2026 and 2027. He gets $23,875,000 in each of the final four years.

He does not have a no-trade provision. The deal includes a $1 million assignment bonus if traded.

Realmuto’s average annual salary of $23.1 million will become the highest for a catcher, topping the $23 million Joe Mauer averaged in a $184 million, eight-year deal with the Minnesota Twins that covered 2011-18.

Harper posted a photo of him and Realmuto celebrating a run on Instagram soon after the news broke. Reliever

Archie Bradley wrote “SignJT” on Twitter after he signed a one-year deal last week.

Realmuto was acquired from the Marlins in February 2019 in a trade that sent righthander Sixto Sanchez and catcher Jorge Alfaro to Miami along with pitching prospect Will Stewart and $250,000 in international signing bonus pool allocation.

Realmuto made his second NL All-Star team with the Phillies in 2019 and earned a Gold Glove. He had careerhighs in homers (25), RBIs (83) and slugging percentage (.493) that season.

Realmuto, who turns 30 in March, hit .266 with 11 homers, 32 RBIs and a careerbest OPS of .840 last season. He earned $3,703,704 prorated for the pandemic-shortened season from a $10 million salary.

His deal is the secondlargest of the off-season behind outfielder George Springer's $150 million, sixyear contract with Toronto.