Phillies make Realmuto the highest-paid catcher
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 twotime 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. The 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.
Realmuto was acquired from the Marlins in February 2019 in a trade that sent right-hander Sixto Sanchez and catcher Jorge Alfaro to Miami along with pitching prospect Will Stewart.
Realmuto made his second NL AllStar 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. METS MAKE BAUER MASSIVE OFFER >> The New York Mets are willing to make free agent pitcher Trevor Bauer one of baseball’s highest-paid players, USA Today reported. The annual average salary in the team’s offer to the National League Cy Young winner in 2020 would be near what the New York Yankees pay right-hander Gerrit Cole, but the deal would be shorter in length, the report said.
The Yankees signed Cole to a nineyear, $324 million deal in free agency on Dec. 11, 2019.
Bauer, a 30-year-old right-hander, was 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA last season for the Cincinnati Reds. He made 11 starts and threw two complete-game shutouts, striking out 100 in 73 innings pitched during the 60-game season.
HAND GETS $10.5M FROM NATIONALS >>
Left-handed reliever Brad Hand finalized a $10.5 million, one-year contract with the Washington Nationals, giving the team more strength and flexibility in the back end of its bullpen.
The 30-year-old Hand led the majors with 16 saves during the pandemic-truncated 2020 season for the Cleveland Indians, compiling a 2.05 ERA, .169 opponents’ batting average, 29 strikeouts and four walks in 22 innings over 23 appearances. He did not allow a home run last season. Hand is a three-time All-Star after becoming a full-time reliever. TWINS SIGN SIMMONS >> The Minnesota Twins have signed infielder Andrelton Simmons to a one-year, $10.5 million deal, according to multiple reports. Simmons, 31, has won four Gold Glove awards in nine seasons with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels. He is a .269 career hitter, three times hitting double-digit home runs and four times swiping double-digit bases.
Running
BOSTON MARATHON SET FOR OCT. 11 IF STATE ALLOWS >> The 125th edition of the Boston Marathon will be held Oct. 11 if road races are allowed to take place under Massachusetts’ COVID-19 restrictions, race officials said Tuesday.
The Boston Athletic Association said it has “cautious optimism” the event will take place. Last year’s Boston Marathon was postponed from April to September and ultimately canceled two months later, the first time since 1897 that the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual 26.2mile race was not run.
Soccer
CHELSEA HIRES FORMER PSG MANAGER TUCHEL >> Chelsea hired Thomas Tuchel as manager on Tuesday on an 18-month contract to replace the fired Frank Lampard
Tuchel, a 47-year-old German, is back in work a month after losing his job at Paris Saint-Germain following a power struggle with the club. In his 2 1/2 years in Paris, he led the team to back-to-back French league titles and the Champions League final last season.
Lampard, a Chelsea great as a player, lasted 18 months before getting fired as its manager following a run of five losses in the past eight league games which threatens the team’s ambitions of a top-four finish and Champions League qualification.
Golf
DAVIS LOVE III NAMED U.S. CAPTAIN
FOR 2022 PRESIDENTS CUP >> Davis Love III has been named captain of the United States team for the 2022 Presidents Cup, the tournament and PGA Tour officials announced Tuesday morning.
Love, 56, will look to guide the Americans to victory against the International Team at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 2225, 2022. South Africa’s Trevor Immelman was named the captain of the International team.