MLB Trade Rumors: Why the Philadelphia Phillies May Attempt to Acquire J.T. Realmuto
Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp are the Phillies' current catchers
The glory days of the late 2000s for the Philadelphia Phillies are not forgotten, but they are certainly firmly in the rearview mirror.
The Phillies probably waited a tad too long to shed their veterans and embark on a rebuild, but even though the start of the process was flawed, it is now starting to bear fruit.
After some truly poor seasons, the Phillies are finally looking like playoff contenders again this year. Currently, the Phillies are well over .500 and they are sporting the kind of run differential which suggests that their good start is not a fluky one.
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Of course, the real challenge for this Phillies team will be to sustain their level of play for the next four and a half months, and in order to do that, they will need their offense to step up.
Aside from Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez, the other Phillies hitters have really struggled thus far.
A particular problem spot for the team is at catcher, where backstops Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp have combined to produce hardly any offensive value.
Catcher may not be a spot occupied by the best hitters in the Majors, but the Phillies still cannot afford to get next to nothing from their two backstops.
The struggles of Alfaro and Knapp could explain why FRS Network's Jon Heyman has listed the Phillies as one of the teams that may look in to possibly trading for Miami Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto.
Realmuto has to be one of the more underrated players in the league.
Possibly due in part to him playing for a Marlins team that is not expected to make any kind of noise this season, Realmuto's stellar start to this season has gone under the radar.
As can be seen on his Baseball Reference page, Realmuto is currently hitting as well as he ever has in his career, and if he keeps this up, he will likely end up going to the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C. in July as the Marlins' representative.
That's assuming that he won't be traded before then of course.
Another reason why Realmuto is such an appealing trade candidate is that he's not just a rental. Realmuto is arbitration-eligible for two more years after this season, meaning that he can work as both a short-term fix and as a long-term solution for the Phillies at catcher.
The only real point of concern about potentially trading for Realmuto is the cost. Given the way he's currently playing and the additional years of team control he still offers, the Marlins will likely demand a good prospect return for him.
The Phillies still have enough prospects to get a deal done, but in all likelihood, they may need to include the aforementioned Alfaro in the trade. It likely will not be easy for the Phillies to part with Alfaro given that he's such a well-regarded prospect, but he may not have a role with the team anyway if Realmuto is added to the mix.
