The Philadelphia Phillies’ biggest priority this offseason is to bring J.T. Realmuto back in free agency, but there might be one thing that won’t allow that to happen.
The Phillies haven’t made the postseason since 2011, which is the longest playoff drought in the National League. They brought in $330 million man, Bryce Harper, and signed Zack Wheeler to pair with Aaron Nola last offseason.
They are now forced with the decision of whether or not they will pay Realmuto enough money to bring him back to be their catcher for the foreseeable future. Phillies owner, John Middleton, reportedly doesn’t believe they have a great chance at doing so.
According to the New York Daily News’ Bill Madden, “John Middleton told his baseball people that because of the massive losses the club suffered last year they may not be in position to re-sign Realmuto or any other big-ticket free agents.”
This news comes after Philadelphia laid off 80 employees in business and baseball operations this past week due to the team’s significant financial losses due to the absence of fans at Citizens Bank Park in 2020. Andy MacPhail, the Phillies’ team president, wrote in an email to employees in September that the organization lost more than $145 million due to the pandemic affecting their incoming revenue.
Bad Timing
The timing of Realmuto hitting the free-agent market couldn’t have come at a worse time. First off, the organization simply doesn’t have the resources to satisfy Realmuto’s demands. To make matters worse, their division rivals, the New York Mets, have been taken over by Steve Cohen–who is by far the richest owner in Major League Baseball and didn’t lose money due to the absence of fans because he hadn’t taken over the team yet.
Now, it seems like the Mets are the favorites to sign Realmuto, as they have a huge hole at the catching position and are in the best position financially to commit millions of dollars to the 29-year-old catcher.
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If John Middleton lost 2billion dollars this season as he claims, perhaps it’s time to sell the damn team!!!!