Phillies offseason sim: Buildings towards a championship

The Phillies will once again look to build on a disappointing season and look to contend for a championship next year.

After an offseason of spending stupid money the Phillies and their fans expected nothing less than a playoff berth. Another late season collapse led to the dismissal of manager Gabe Kapler and the hiring of Joe Girardi to run the bench going forward.

Despite all of the moves made last season the Phillies still have a ton of holes to fill if they are to contend for a playoff spot, let alone a championship, in 2020.

In the FanSided MLB offseason simulation the Phillies followed John Middleton’s mantra and continued to spend stupid money and remain aggressive on both the trade and free agent markets.

Here is a breakdown of all of the moves we made as the Phillies representatives.

Extend J.T. Realmuto

Is there any more that needs to be said about catcher J.T. Realmuto to highlight how great he was last season? He became the first catcher in Phillies history to win the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove in the same season and he received MVP votes in his first year with Philadelphia.

In the final year of arbitration, Realmuto is expected to make more than $10 million if the Phillies can’t come to an agreement on an extension. After giving up top prospect Sixto Sanchez to acquire Realmuto last offseason and seeing his results, the Phillies should be willing to offer one of the largest contracts given to a catcher.

After negotiating with the FanSided representatives who played Realmuto’s agent, we agreed upon a five year extension worth $120 million. It’s the second biggest contract given to a catcher (Posey received 5/$159M) and the largest AAV for a catcher, $4 million more than Yadier Molina.

Realmuto is worth every penny the Phillies can offer him, and with the National League potentially adding a designated hitter down the road, Realmuto’s legs could be saved to lengthen his impact in Philadelphia.