REPORT: Phillies have a big offer in J.T. Realmuto

Ah, the kind of Friday news dump that everyone wants to hear. According to Jayson Stark, Dave Dombrowski made quite an impression on J.T. Realmuto during their Christmas summit.

It’s always been the way it was going to be. The Phillies would maintain their interest, letting Realmuto explore the market and all it had to offer until all of the potential suitors dwindled down. When the Mets went off the board by signing James McCann, that seemed to eliminate their biggest competition for the catcher even though others were lurking. Yesterday, when the Yankees signed D.J. LeMahieu to a six year deal, that took another team out of his list. It always felt a little like this was bound to happen.

From Stark’s story:

It looks like everything the team wanted to happen is happening. They didn’t want to pay as much as Realmuto was seeking and were betting no one else would either. Patience might pay off.

However, it should be cautioned that not everyone that had interest in Realmuto has moved on. While Houston may have bowed out, the Nationals were still a team that took a meeting with him and were impressed. And the other big potential spender, the Blue Jays, still haven’t signed anyone of note yet, seeing their money begin to burn a hole in their pockets. Might they jump in and blow Realmuto away with an offer? The chance does still exist.

However, with as much as he professed liking playing here and the fact that the team’s biggest star and highest paid player publicly lobbied for the team to bring Realmuto back, this has always felt like the endgame that would play out. So, in the interest of everyone’s well being - let’s just get this wrapped up.