Well, that’s a relief. The Phillies were snubbed on Friday afternoon Bo Bichettegot swept up in the tidal wave of hot stove transactions and agreed to a three-year, $45 million deal (plus $15 million in incentives) to retain JT Realmuto in Philadelphia, according to Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb from The Athletics. You might have a hard time recovering from a rejection by signing a catcher three years into his decline for another three years, but think about what other options the Phillies had, and then think how weird it would have felt to see Realmuto playing in a different uniform after all this time. It’s probably too many years, and that’s not great, but look at everything else happening in the world right now and realize how much more fun it is to spend a moment thinking about something that just isn’t great.
Before we dive into the here and now, let’s take this opportunity to remind ourselves just how special a career Realmuto has had. He made his debut with the Marlins in 2014 and blossomed into a star in 2017, combining excellent defense with a great bat and excellent baserunning ability, which is not befitting of a backstop. (He currently ranks 23rd all-time among catchers with 104 stolen bases. If we limit ourselves to 1901 and later, he moved up to 11th.) Such things were never meant for Miami. In February 2019, after posting two four-win seasons and earning an All-Star nod and a Silver Slugger, the Marlins traded him to Philadelphia for a blockbuster package that gave them a total of 2.0 WAR and $250,000 in international bonus pool money. Realmuto got even better the following season.
From 2017 to 2022, Realmuto wasn’t just the best catcher in baseball; there was an ocean between him and the rest of the competition. He led all catchers with 28.2 WAR. Yasmani Grandalin second place, had only 19.6. Of the 207 catchers who played during that stretch, Grandal and the future Hall of Famer Buster Posey were the only ones whose WAR Total Realmuto did not double. During that stretch, he tops our rankings at the plate, on the basepaths and on defense, and no one else even comes close. Realmuto has earned two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, three All-Star nominations and MVP votes in two seasons. He has a career 104 wRC+ in the playoffs. It’s great that the Phillies retained him. He will hit 200 home runs in Philadelphia. He is the team’s longest-tenured player, ahead of Bryce Harper by about a month and only one behind Aaron Nola on the pitch side. He is a go-getter, the heart of a Phillies team that has been at the top of the league for years. Yet you know the problem as well as I do.
It’s not 2022 anymore, and Realmuto has so much mileage under his belt. He has played at least 125 games seven times and led the league in innings pitched three of the past four seasons. He ranks seventh in innings caught since 2002. Two of the guys before him played during their age-39 seasons. One is now a manager.
Realmuto started looking human in 2023, and he missed a few months due to a meniscectomy in 2024. Over the last three years, he’s averaged a perfect 100 wRC+. That’s still plenty good for a catcher, but it dropped to 94 in 2025, and advanced grades like DRC+ have it even lower. While he hit the ball about as hard as ever, his bat speed took a very scary dive from the 70th percentile in 2024 to 47th in 2025, and his barrel rate followed suit. Realmuto once enjoyed four-players, but he has put up negative run values against them over the past three seasons. He started struggling with cutters in 2024 and sinkers in 2025, meaning he now struggles with any type of fastball.
He has combined this weaker bat with poor frame numbers, and while he still has plenty of speed, he has even started to take on water in the baserunning department. Put it together and Realmuto has recorded almost exactly 2.0 WAR in each of the last three seasons. Despite all the doom and gloom I just heaped upon you, that’s not only a useful player, but also an above-average catcher.
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It makes Realmuto the best option behind the plate on the Phillies roster, in front Rafael Marchan And Garrett Stubbs. Likewise, Realmuto became the top-ranked catcher on our Top 50 Free Agents list, where he ranked 30th overall. Wouldn’t you rather have him? Danny Jansen or Victor Caratiniwho was in 38th and 39th place? That would certainly be the case in 2025, but projections were for a two-year deal with Realmuto with an average annual value of $13 million. Instead, he’ll earn $15 million for an extra year, which will mark another age-37 season for the man who already ranks seventh in innings caught this century. Still, there wasn’t a better catcher on the trading block, and unless the Tyrell Corporation started producing it while I wasn’t paying attention, we’ve now exhausted all the ways a baseball team can get their hands on a baseball player.
Everything makes sense here. The Phillies are a win-now team that is already above the top luxury tax threshold. It’s hard to blame them for hanging on to the best catcher they have available, especially when he’s a man they love — a man they and their fans can appreciate far more deeply than anyone else — for a year and a few million dollars more than would be ideal. Three years isn’t forever, and Realmuto now has an excellent opportunity to end his career as a Phillie. It’ll be fine. Try to enjoy your weekend.
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