PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Multiple reports, including one from RADIO.COM Sports MLB Insider Jon Heyman, say that Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto isn’t taking the team's one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offer to return in 2021.
That is arguably the least surprising news of 2020.
Nonetheless, it means if Realmuto signs elsewhere in free agency, the Phillies will receive a compensatory draft pick.
It’s no secret that Realmuto wants to set the new standard for catchers in free agency, and he is expected to seek a big payday. Whether his next contract is with the Phillies remains to be seen.
In late October, President Andy MacPhail said he was optimistic the Phillies could bring Realmuto back, even though attempts to extend him since he joined the Phils almost two years ago have been unsuccessful.
“I think he enjoyed his time here, and obviously we want him back, so I think those two things give you some measure of hope,” MacPhail said on Oct. 30.
At the same time, MacPhail said he didn’t think he could estimate the probability of Realmuto staying on.
“In any offseason there are just amazing amounts of variables,” MacPhail said. “You can just add, multiply that exponentially this offseason. But yeah, as long as the player enjoyed his time here, and the team has a legitimate interest in bringing him back, there’s that possibility.”
One of those variables is money, and how the market will shape it.
On Oct. 3, Managing Partner John Middleton said it’s a priority to bring Realmuto back, but it’s no secret the pandemic affected revenue for every Major League Baseball team.
One reporter asked Middleton how that factor could affect the offseason.
“Can’t tell ya,” Middleton said. “Can you tell me what the governor and the mayor of Philadelphia are gonna allow us to have next year in the way of fans?”
Since that time, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia have loosened restrictions and allowed a limited amount of fans at Lincoln Financial Field for Eagles games. We must wait and see how the coronavirus pandemic plays out before we will know whether Citizens Bank Park will be able to host fans when Phillies games start up again.
While the Phandemic Krew made a lot of noise and showed a lot of support for their Phils from outside the gate where 10th Street meets the ballpark, fans weren’t inside Citizens Bank Park in 2020.
Meanwhile, up the turnpike, the National League East rival Mets have a new owner — hedge fund multi-billionaire Steve Cohen He's a lifelong Mets fan who wants to win a World Series in no more than five years after his purchase. While he believes in building a farm system, there’s no question his deep pockets must be respected for their ability to lure top players to Flushing, Queens.
“This is a major-market team, and it should have a budget commensurate with that,” Cohen said at his introductory press conference Tuesday.
Mets President Sandy Alderson echoed those sentiments when speaking about this offseason.
“We’re gonna make sure we got enough meat and potatoes,” Alderson said. "But we’re gonna be shopping in the gourmet section, as well."
If the Phillies lose Realmuto in free agency to any team — even if it’s not the Mets — it would be crushing to this fan base, considering who the Phillies gave up to acquire Realmuto in 2019. They traded top pitching prospect Sixto Sánchez, and others, to another NL East foe — the Miami Marlins.