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Phillies GM Matt Klentak on possible JT Realmuto expansion

The Phillies and pending free agent catcher JT Realmuto discussed a contract extension before Major League Baseball froze the transactions in March due to the shutdown of COVID-19. That frost lifted last week, but the Phillies and Realmuto didn’t resume the calls, like Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer Relays.

General Manager Matt Klentak spoke on Realmuto’s status on Monday: “To be honest, we were kind of on the ground – recording screenings and bringing people here – so I didn’t touch the base [Realmuto’s camp]. As simple as a timeline, I just don’t know. I have to talk to them. “

Realmuto was optimistic about a possible extension a month and a half ago, but the game’s financial situation has certainly deteriorated since then. Therefore, it is highly questionable whether an upcoming free agent – himself a star like Realmuto, who is considered the sport’s most important setback – will do as well on his next contract as before the pandemic.

For its part, Klentak admitted that the game had changed from a monetary perspective in the past few months “The landscape we left in March is different from the one we are now returning to.” And while the Phillies would “I still love to have [Realmuto] in red pinstripes for the long haul “ According to Klentak, he added that “At the moment there is a lot of uncertainty in the game at different levels. We just have to go through this. “

Before the extension calls came to a standstill, Realmuto’s agent Jeff Berry of CAA Sports may have applied for a five-year, $ 130 million contract for his client, Lauber reports. This payday – one that would average $ 26 million a year – would make Realmuto the highest-paid catcher in baseball history each year, surpassing the $ 23 million that is now retired Joe Mauer Collected by the twins for the mega deal he signed in 2010 (however, Mauer had a much longer and more expensive contract worth $ 184 million over eight seasons). Whether this was primarily a realistic price is controversial, but given the less favorable financial circumstances of the sport – not to mention Realmuto will be 30 before the campaign starts in 2021 – it will likely be even more difficult in the coming months, to get him.

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