Realmuto stays with Phils
PHILADELPHIA — The “Sign J.T.” chants from fans gathered outside the ballpark during the pandemic-altered 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.
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.
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 career-highs 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 career-best 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 offseason behind outfielder George Springer’s $150 million, six-year contract with Toronto.
Aaron receives glowing tribute
Brian Snitker choked back tears as he remembered Hank Aaron’s affection for those who didn’t possess his unparalleled talent on the baseball field.
During his post-playing career running the Atlanta Braves farm system, the Hammer had a penchant for looking beyond the can’t-miss prospects.
“He always wanted to move a player up, and he preferred that it wasn’t the so-called bonus babies,“said Snitker, who has managed the Braves since 2016 and got his start in the dugout thanks to Aaron. “He wanted to get that grinder guy, the guy who was overachieving.”
Snitker was among those who spoke Tuesday at a memorial service in Atlanta honoring Aaron, who died last week from natural causes at the age of 86.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, Hall of Famer Chipper Jones and former Braves outfielder Marquis Grissom were among those who spoke at the ceremony, which was held before a small, socially distanced crowd — including Aaron’s widow, Billye, and other family members — on the concourse directly behind home plate at Truist Park.
The remarks were delivered in an exhibit known as Monument Garden, which prominently features a statue of Aaron delivering the swing that produced 755 homers.
Others sent videotaped tributes, including Baseball Hall of Famers John Smoltz and Tim Glavine, one-time Aaron teammate and current Astros manager Dusty Baker, reigning National League MVP Freddie Freeman, and former Braves great Dale Murphy, who captured back-to-back MVP awards in the 1980s.
Aaron’s famed No. 44 was painted in the dormant grass of center field. Braves Chairman Terry McGuirk noted the unseasonably warm January weather — the temperature climbed into the upper 60s — as a sign from above honoring one of the game’s greatest icons.
Noting the 10 Baseball of Famers who have died in the past year, Manfred said the Aaron “belongs on our sport’s Mount Rushmore. He stood — on and off the field — above all others.”
Odds and ends
Free agent Cesar Hernandez, who had a strong 2020 season with Cleveland, has agreed to return to the Indians on a oneyear contract, a person familiar with the deal said. Hernandez batted .283 and won a Gold Glove for the first time. … The Baltimore Orioles signed veteran infielder Freddy Galvis to a one-year contract worth $1.5 million. Galvis, 31, hit .220 with seven home runs for the Cincinanti Reds last season.