The Philadelphia Phillies' focus this offseason remains on bringing back Kyle Schwarber and improving their outfield situation. Other roster issues the front office hopes to make are moving on from Nick Castellanos, possibly trading Alec Bohm, and resolving their catcher situation if J.T. Realmuto doesn't re-sign.
One popular Realmuto replacement surfaced again in Anthony Castrovince's recent MLB.com article of "ridiculous trades." Among Castrovince's seven proposed deals is one involving the Phillies, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Washington Nationals in "The I-95 interchange" trade.
The Phillies would acquire Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman, who, despite his down season, is several years younger than Realmuto. Rutschman will turn 28 in February, while the veteran Realmuto will be 35 in March. The Orioles would receive a boost to their starting rotation getting MacKenzie Gore and catcher Keibert Ruiz. Baltimore prospect Caden Bodine, Nick Castellanos, and Phillies prospects Aidan Miller and Carson DeMartini would be traded to the Nationals.
Trading with Orioles and Nationals would at least help the Phillies now, but it would hurt down the road
After a career year in 2023 with 20 home runs, 80 RBIs, and a .277/.374/.435 slash line and an.809 OPS in 154 games, the switch-hitting Rutschman is coming off his worst offensive year in his four seasons. He played in a career-low 90 contests due to oblique injuries and compiled only nine homers, 29 RBIs, a .673 OPS, and a .220/.307/.366 line.
Despite a disappointing 2025, Rutschman represents one of the top trade options at catcher for Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski if Realmuto doesn't return. However, even though the Orioles promoted and signed Samuel Basallo to an eight-year contract, team president of baseball operations Mike Elias said that they don't want to part with Rutschman.
Adley Rutschman gets everyone in orange flipping out! pic.twitter.com/oXUH8Rd0ZG
— MLB (@MLB) April 12, 2025
While the Phillies would trade Castellanos and resolve that situation, they would be dealing their No. 2 and No. 13 MLB Pipeline prospects Aidan Miller and Carson DeMartini, respectively, to the Nationals.
Having Miller in Washington, a National League East foe, would not be ideal in the long run for the Phillies. He is one of their top prospects whom Dombrowski has said that the Phillies want to keep. They see the prospect as a future part of their infield for the next several years.
If Elias and Dombrowski are to be taken at their word, Rutschman will remain with Baltimore and Miller will stay with the Phillies. The Orioles backstop would solve Philadelphia's dilemma behind the plate if Realmuto leaves and Castellanos would no longer be with the team. However, it would be risky for them to part with a potential future franchise cornerstone in Miller for Rutschman, who only has two more years of arbitration remaining before becoming a free agent.
However, fans can relax as this ridiculous proposal isn't meant to be taken literally. It's supposed to be an entertaining article and Castrovince even notes that none of the three clubs would even agree to the hypothetical trade.