Phillies: 5 catcher options if J.T. Realmuto leaves
Phillies fans may have to face the reality of no J.T. Realmuto in their future
Entering the offseason it felt like a given that the Phillies and catcher J.T. Realmuto would sign a long-term contract extension that would keep the best catcher in baseball in the City of Brotherly Love.
Then, COVID-19 hit and baseball was forced to shut down indefinitely. With that shutdown comes no more roster moves and a pause in contract negotiations between the Phillies and Realmuto’s camp.
A contract for Realmuto is widely expected to surpass $100 million and push Joe Mauer’s average annual value of $23 million.
In recent offseasons there has been a slew of contract extensions signed in the final week of spring training. The same was expected regarding this year and Realmuto’s deal, but now with no negotiations, the Phillies are losing precious time to retain their superstar catcher.
It’s becoming increasingly likely the Phillies and Realmuto won’t have a deal done before the 29-year-old hits free agency this winter.
Given what the Phillies invested into acquiring Realmuto by sending their top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez, a promising young catcher in Jorge Alfaro, and pitching prospect Will Stewart within the division to Miami, losing Realmuto would be soul-crushing for the organization.
Outside of Realmuto the free agent market is a mixed bag. Yadier Molina will likely retire or stay in St. Louis, and the other options have a lot of questions surrounding them, which we’ll get into.
If the Phillies are unable to keep Realmuto, here are the options they could explore next offseason.
Let the Kids Play
This might be the least favorable option for the Phillies, but it would be the most cost-effective.
Instead of unloading their entire farm system to acquire another catcher now could be the time to, at the very least, test the young catchers in the farm system.
MLB Pipeline has three catchers in the Phillies top-30 prospect list while Baseball America (subscription required) has five. The biggest problem is, only one of those players is close to being major league ready.
That one guy would be Deivy Grullon, who appeared in four games last season and hit just 1-9 with two strikeouts. Granted, that’s a very small sample for a guy playing his first handful of major league games.
In Lehigh Valley last season Grullon hit .283 with 24 doubles and 21 home runs. As Larry Bowa says, those minor league doubles turn into home runs, so the power potential for Grullon is there.
Unfortunately, Grullon isn’t even considered the Phillies top catching prospect and most of those guys are very far away in the minors. Both of the aforementioned publications have Rafael Marchan in their top-seven prospects in the organization for his skills behind the plate.
MLB Pipeline says Marchan’s defensive abilities are big league ready, but he hasn’t played higher than Advanced-A and he’s never hit a home run since joining the minor leagues as a 17-year-old.
Rodolfo Duran has played at the same level as Marchan but has more power, hitting 18 home runs in Single-A Lakewod back in 2018.
Baseball America also ranks Logan O’Hoppe (a teenager in Low-A Williamsport), Abrahan Gutierrez (a 20-year-old in Single-A Lakewood), and Andrick Nava (an 18-year-old who played rookie ball last year) in the Phillies system, but they are all clearly very far away from being in the big leagues.
That would leave Grullon as your opening day catcher in 2021, which would not excite a lot of Phillies fans.
Re-sign Wilson Ramos
The free agent catcher market after the 2020 season is fairly bare outside of Realmuto, who will obviously garner a lot of attention.
The second best catcher available stands to be Wilson Ramos, who played 33 very productive games as a Phillie back in 2018. He was an instant fan favorite when he went 3-4 with three extra-base hits in his Phillies debut.
Ramos’ tenure with the Phillies ended with a .337 batting average and 10 extra-base hits.
Last offseason Ramos signed a two-year deal with the Mets and his bat went to New York with him. In 141 games in Queens Ramos hit .288 with 14 home runs and 19 doubles. He stayed relatively healthy, something that didn’t happen in 2018, but threw out just 17 runners and allowed 94 stolen bases.
Ramos does have a $10 million club option with the Mets, so his availability next offseason is in question. As would his availability behind the plate every day. He’ll be 33-years-old next season and turn 34 during the 2021 season.
If the Phillies were to bring Ramos back, their best option might be to platoon him with Grullon. If Ramos can continue to hit the way he has over the last four seasons the Phillies will gladly play the two-time All-Star 130 times while mixing in a potential future piece in Grullon or possibly Marchan.
This might not be the best option for Philadelphia, but it could be efficient based on their payroll and the ability to mix in young players.
Trade for Cubs catcher Willson Contreras
Trading for Willson Contreras might be too rich for the Phillies, but it would be their best chance as replacing Realmuto’s power.
Contreras is among the top-five offensive catchers in baseball with the fifth-most home runs by a catcher since 2016, seven fewer than Realmuto’s 74.
In his first four seasons with Chicago Contreras has a .267 batting average with rising power, coming off a career-high 24 home runs in just 105 games last year.
Contreras has been an All-Star in his last two seasons and since 2016 he’s among the top six among catchers in hits, doubles, RBIs, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Contreras can strike out a lot, but his strikeout rate in 2019 was slightly lower than Realmuto’s 1.17/game, finishing just a hair over at 1.029 for Chicago.
Where the Phillies would lose out is the defense, especially Reamuto’s arm. Base runners were caught 43 times by Realmuto, just 16 times by Contreras. Realmuto’s fielding percentage was slightly higher as well at .992 vs Contreras’ .986 last year.
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Chicago is in a weird spot with their roster at this time as they continue to look for ways to trim payroll. In 2020 their payroll was due to be $186.1 million, but Spotrac reports that will be cut in half in 2021 with the contracts of Anthony Rizzo, Tyler Chatwood, and Jose Quintana coming off the books.
Still, the Cubs have to find a way to keep their young core of Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Contreras intact when their arbitration eligibility runs out.
Similar to when the Phillies traded for Realmuto, Contreras has two years of control remaining after the 2020 season. If the Phillies lose Realmuto, they could be forced to give Chicago a deal similar to what they paid Miami.
It’s unlikely the Phillies give up top prospects Alec Bohm or Spencer Howard, but would Chicago take Rhys Hoskins to replace Rizzo? The Phillies also have a crop of young catchers who (while not as praised as Alfaro was) are talented and could come into play.
It’ll cost the Phillies an arm and a leg to make another high-profile deal for a catcher, but if their aspirations are to contend, this might have to be the deal they make.
Trade for Salvador Perez
If the Phillies want to maintain their defense behind home plate while getting consistent offense, Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez could be another option.
Perez has been one of the best defensive catchers in the game since 2013, winning five Gold Gloves in his last six seasons. Twice he’s led the league in caught stealing percentage, three times catching more than 42 percent of runners.
He’s also made six consecutive All-Star games and has won the American League Silver Slugger twice in the last three years he’s played.
Offensively, Perez has been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball, hitting no less than 21 home runs and 20 doubles in his last four seasons. He’s had at least 23 doubles and 60 RBI in his last six seasons.
With Perez, you’re also getting a guy who’s been in the playoffs with Kansas City and has won a ring, something very few players on the Phillies have accomplished. He was a key piece to the Royals core in the early 2010s and was the World Series MVP in 2015 when Kansas City won it all.
One thing the Phillies would have to consider is that Perez missed all of 2019 with Tommy John surgery. He also missed time over multiple seasons with injuries to his left knee, including an MCL tear.
Kansas City is back in rebuild mode coming off a 59-win season and Perez will finish the 2020 season with a year remaining on his contract worth $14.2 million. It might behoove the Royals to say goodbye to Perez, who will be 31-years-old during the 2021 season.
Given his lack of contract control, injuries, and age the Phillies might be able to get Perez at a slightly cheaper price than another catcher of his caliber.
Sign James McCann
We talked briefly about the free agent class earlier. Outside of Realmuto the Phillies options were limited. We already know that Molina is unlikely to leave St. Louis. Then there’s Wilson Ramos. Other than that, it’s a mixed bag.
Jason Castro isn’t going to hit for a very high average, Mike Zunino’s option is likely to be picked up by Tampa Bay, and the rest of the notable names are going to be in their late 30s by 2021.
The only other free agent option would be James McCann, who despite being 30 doesn’t have a lot of extra wear on his knees.
In his first four full seasons in Detroit, McCann averaged just 111 games a season behind the plate. He didn’t hit well, averaging just .240 and reaching double digit home runs twice.
Philadelphia Phillies
Last year McCann moved on to the White Sox where he had a mini power surge, hitting 18 home runs with a .273 batting average and making his first All-Star game. He set career highs across the board, including 26 doubles and 60 RBI. He also caught 31 percent of runners last year and has caught an average of 36 percent in his career.
Surprisingly this offseason the White Sox signed Yasmani Grandal to a four-year $73 million deal to play catcher. They also signed Edwin Encarnacion to be their designated hitter so the opportunities for McCann to play every day are slim.
If the White Sox do move on from McCann, he could be a cheap free agent option with power potential in Citizens Bank Park. A majority of his home runs over the last three seasons have gone to left field, a benefit playing in Philadelphia.
Fans would have to get to know McCann since he’s played his entire career in the American League, but he’s relatively young with not a ton of wear on his legs behind the plate. A short-term deal would give the Phillies stability behind the plate until one of their young catchers is ready.