Bo Bichette’s decision to sign with the New York Mets rather than the Philadelphia Phillies was a cruel blow to the Phillies. The Phillies had momentum, but they were unable to acquire Bichette.
They quickly changed their focus to J.T. Realmuto and signed him to a three-year, $45 million contract deal. A few weeks later, it appears more worse than it did at the time.
The Shredder of MLB Now claims that Realmuto is not only not among the Top 10 catchers in the league, but that just one of them receives compensation comparable to the 35-year-old veteran. The Phillies already don’t seem to be getting a decent bargain.
Phillies’ $45M deal for J.T. Realmuto already looking like a mistake
Cal Raleigh, William Contreras, Will Smith, Drake Baldwin, Alejandro Kirk, Gabriel Moreno, Yanier Diaz, Sean Murphy, Ivan Herrera, and Shea Langeliers are among the top 10 catchers listed by the Shredder for 2026.
Only one of the 10 catchers has an AAV that is on par with or higher than Realmuto’s, and that player is Raleigh’s top catcher, earning $17.5 million AAV. Realmuto has an AAV of $15 million, which is higher than any other catcher in the league.
It would be an enormous waste of money to pay Realmuto this much if he weren’t among the top ten candidates.
He’s regressing both offensively and defensively, and although he may offer the Phillies intangibles as an underappreciated pitch-caller, his $15 million annual contract is still way too much for a catcher at this stage of his career.
He will turn 35 at the beginning of the year, and even though he might offer strong value once again as he has in recent years, this three-year contract at $15 million is still significantly excessive for a player at this point in his career.
The fact that this contract isn’t just for one or two years makes it even worse for the Phillies. Realmuto will be bound by the three-year deal until his 38th season.
The Phillies will probably be in a similar situation as they are presently with Taijuan Walker and Nick Castellanos when that last year arrives since he is already not worth $15 million annually.
It’s not a good deal, and The Shredder’s ranking, which shows that Realmuto isn’t among the top 10 catchers despite earning the second-highest AAV for a catcher, only serves to emphasize how awful this contract was.
