The Phillies have acquired all-star catcher J.T. Realmuto from the Marlins for catcher Jorge Alfaro, their top prospect in RHP Sixto Sanchez, and Will Stewart, first reported by MLB analyst Jim Bowden.
#Phillies #Marlins deal agreed upon. 4 players going to #Marlins including Sanchez and Alfaro in return for Realmuto.
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) February 7, 2019
Will Stewart going to #Marlins
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) February 7, 2019The Phillies have confirmed the trade.
Realmuto, 27, was named to his first all-star game last season, hitting .277/.340/.484 with 21 homers and 74 RBIs in 125 games with the Marlins. Realmuto has spent all four-plus seasons of his MLB career in Miami.
Sanchez, 20, is the Phillies' top pitching prospect and MLB Pipeline's No. 7 RHP prospect. He was 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA in Single-A Clearwater last season.
Alfaro, 25, slashed .262/.324/.407 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs in 108 games last season. Alfaro showed off his strong arm as well, throwing out 21 of 80 base runners.
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Phillies view Realmuto as a potential enticement towards Bryce Harper and/or Manny Machado.
Marlins reporter Joe Frisaro talked about the Realmuto-Harper connection with Joe Giglio on Wednesday's 94WIP Evening Show Hot Stove segment.
"Bryce Harper loves J.T. Realmuto," Frisaro said on Wednesday evening. "The Padres, a week or so ago, were in on Realmuto and around that same time you heard that the Padres were meeting with Harper's group. At the all-star game Harper put a Nationals hat on top of Realmuto's head during the introductions. In a game where the Marlins happened to beat the Nationals in Miami, J.T. had the game winning hit—a little flare to right field—and he made like a great play in the field, threw a guy out and after the game Harper publicly said, 'If we had that guy we would have won.'"
If the Phillies can add Harper in free-agency, their projected lineup with look something like this, per Buster Olney:
LF McCutchenSS SeguraRF Harper1B HoskinsC RealmutoCF Herrera3B Franco2B Hernandez
The reaction on the trade appears mixed, with many fans/media believing the Phillies gave up way too much for Realmuto.
