Don't blink now Philadelphia Phillies fans, but J.T. Realmuto has begun his seventh season in Philadelphia. Acquired from the Miami Marlins in February 2019, Realmuto has enjoyed a great amount of success with the Phillies. Across his first six seasons with the team, Realmuto has accumulated a bWAR of 22.4 with a pair of All-Star selections and some hardware to show for it.
He made an immediate first impression in 2019, winning a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove, and won each award again in 2022. He finished seventh in NL MVP voting that season and helped the franchise secure their first pennant since 2009. Realmuto is entering the final year of his contract after being extended in 2021, and the Phillies should begin to search the league for potential replacements if they don't wish to extend the 34-year-old again. However, one team just locked up one of those potential replacements for the foreseeable future.
What does Cal Raleigh's six-year extension with the Mariners mean for the Phillies and Realmuto?
The Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh has a claim to be MLB's best catcher in 2025 after his solid 2024 season. Raleigh appeared in 153 games and led all catchers with 34 home runs, while also tallying a solid 100 RBIs. He was great behind the plate as well, earning a Platinum Glove, which is awarded to MLB's best defender in each league. This stellar offensive and defensive performance earned Raleigh a recent six-year, $105 million contract extension from Seattle to solidify the "Big Dumper" as one of their franchise cornerstones. The 28-year-old Raleigh would have become a free agent after the 2027 season, but the Mariners have bought a few years of arbitration in which he would have been a prime trade target for a team like the Phillies.
If the Phillies let Realmuto walk in free agency, there are still a few options, both internally and externally, to find their next backstop. They are fortunate enough to have an MLB Pipeline top-100 catching prospect in Eduardo Tait, although they list his major league ETA as 2028. The Phillies' contention window is now and rapidly closing, so they won't want to wait three years to find an impact catcher. Until then, they could pick and choose from the upcoming free agent classes, even if they won't include Raleigh. The free agent market among catchers is pretty thin over the next few offseasons, until after 2027, when stars like Adley Rutschman and William Contreras hit free agency.
Although he's no longer the top player at his position, Realmuto still ranks in the top 10 catchers in baseball and is a cornerstone and leader for his club. That begs the question of what the Phillies should do regarding Realmuto's future after 2025. Along with another free agent veteran leader in Kyle Schwarber, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has decisions to make on whether to extend one of or both Schwarber and Realmuto.
It seems as if both players want to remain in Philadelphia past this season, although it also seems there is uncertainty surrounding the likelihood that Schwarber will ink an extension, as there is with Realmuto as well. Franchise catchers such as Realmuto are hard to come by, so perhaps the best option for Philadelphia would be to lock him up on a short-term extension if they don't like the other catcher options.
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