Phillies snag top catcher Realmuto from the Marlins
Phils reel in prize catcher Realmuto in trade with Marlins ...
The Phillies made another offseason splash, acquiring All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto Thursday from the Florida Marlins for three players who may never reach the midseason classic.
Realmuto batted .277 last season with a career-high 21 homers, 74 RBIs, 74 runs scored and an OPS of .824. He’s averaged 15 homers and 58 RBIs over the past four seasons. Those numbers could soar at hitterfriendly Citizens Bank Park, which is the antithesis of the Marlins’ digs.
“He’s a good player even playing half his games in Miami,” Phils general manager Matt Klentak said on a conference call Thursday. “If that’s what he does in our uniform, that’s still the best catcher in baseball. But I’d be lying if I told you we didn’t think there was some chance that by playing half the games in Citizens Bank Park wouldn’t make him better. I think there’s a pretty good chance our park would be helpful to him.”
Klentak said the Phillies still have the financial resources to acquire one of the top superstars on the free-agent market, Manny Machado or Bryce Harper. More on that later.
To get Realmuto, the Phillies surrendered catcher Jorge Alfaro, top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez and left-handed pitcher Will Stewart.
Alfaro batted .262 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs last season. Many of the dingers were awesome snapshots of his raw power. But it was all or nothing for the strong-armed catcher, as he registered 138 strikeouts in 377 plate appearances.
“We knew if we were going to access J.T. that we were going to have to give up some talent in return,” Klentak said. “We do like Jorge a lot. We think he has a bright career ahead of him. We think he’s a great kid and a hard worker and it’s tough to see him go. But this is about us getting better and acquiring the best catcher in baseball and I’m really excited about that.”
It was impossible for Klentak to hide the positive impact Realmuto is expected to have on the Phillies’ pitching staff.
Klentak spoke of the trust Realmuto had with Marlins pitchers, from setting up batters to blocking balls in the dirt.
“His age and years of control fits our team very, very well,” Klentak said. “He’s achieved stardom in this league and is known as among the best catchers in baseball … Those are things that can really help a pitching staff take a step forward. And that in no way, shape or form is meant to take a shot at Alfaro. Our pitchers loved to pitch to him as well.”
Sanchez, 20, is the 100 mph fireballer with the sore elbow. He pitched just 46.2 innings last season because of the injury, raising issues about his availability. That said, the Phillies have raved about Sanchez and his elite potential.
Stewart, 21, is a lefty who compiled a 2.51 ERA in A-ball last season.
“It was tough to trade Sixto Sanchez and it was tough to trade Will Stewart,” Klentak said. “If you have starting pitching at the Major League level you have a chance to win every single night. And if you have starting pitching in your system you can access just about any player you want to access. This is where I give so much credit to our scouting department. Sixto Sanchez was signed for $35,000. Will Stewart was a 20th-round draft pick. That is good scouting.”
Not good enough scouting, however, for the Phillies to win right away with those entities.
Right now, the Phillies have an interesting nucleus. Realmuto turns 28 next month. Veteran upgrade Jean Segura, the shortstop, is 28, reliever David Robertson 34, outfielder Andrew McCutchen 33.
The Phils control Realmuto’s contract for the next two years, the right-handed batter due $5.9 million this season. Klentak would like to wait a spell before deciding if it’s prudent to give the newcomer a contract extension.
“We didn’t bring that up, nor do I know if the Marlins would have agreed to that,” Klentak said. “You know, in my opinion, I think it’s a good idea to date a person before you ask him to marry you. We’ve heard nothing but outstanding things about J.T. Realmuto and his work ethic and his makeup and his leadership … We have every reason to believe he is exactly the type of player we want representing the Philadelphia Phillies. It very well may be the case that at some time we will do (that) but not right now.”
Finally, Klentak wouldn’t rule out landing Machado or Harper, who likely will command contracts averaging north of $30 million annually. That said, the Phillies are preparing to move on.
“In a financial sense it doesn’t really change the equation much,” Klentak said of the acquisition of Realmuto. “We came into the offseason looking to get better. We were an 80-win team last year and we’ve been looking for ways to continue to add wins to the ledger and put us in the playoff mix. Beginning with Segura and McCutchen and Robertson and now Realmuto, each of those moves have been designed to get us closer, to get us back to the playoffs which we haven’t done since 2011. If there are other opportunities out there for us to continue to make moves in that direction, we will continue to explore them. I don’t think this takes us out of the free agent market by any stretch.”
On paper, the Phillies have upgraded their lineup. Klentak, just the same, isn’t ready to call the Phils a playoff team.
“I think we’ve improved significantly not only with this move but with some of the other moves that we’ve made this offseason,” Klentak said. “Having said that, the teams in our division have also gotten better, which is pretty well known. We need to continue to look for opportunities to improve. They may happen opening day, they may happen at the trade deadline, who knows? But we always have to be on the lookout for opportunities to improve our club.”