Did the Philadelphia Phillies Win the J.T. Realmuto Trade?

Did the Philadelphia Phillies win the J.T. Realmuto trade? Prized prospect, Sixto Sanchez, is now a member of the Miami Marlins. Let’s analyze the return…

Finally, J.T. Realmuto has a new team. Rumors have swirled for months regarding possible landing spots. Los Angeles? San Diego? New York? Atlanta? Cincinnati? In the end, the Philadelphia Phillies came out on top.

On Thursday, Jim Bowden of the Athletic broke the news that J.T. Realmuto would be heading to the Philadelphia Phillies. In return, the Miami Marlins received prized pitching prospect, Sixto Sanchez, Jorge Alfaro, Will Stewart, and international signing money.

For the Marlins, this return seems a little underwhelming. Throughout the offseason, the Marlins had high demands for their star catcher. Rumors swirled as the club demanded players like Cody Bellinger, Ozzie Albies or Kyle Tucker. In the end, they wound up with a package centered around Sixto Sanchez.

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Don’t get me wrong, Sanchez is a top prospect who could be destined for greatness, but to me, he seems like a risk rather than a sure thing.

Sanchez, a 20-year-old right-handed pitcher, is a consensus top 30 prospect with great pure stuff. His repertoire is headlined by a plus fastball, which sits in the upper 90’s, followed up with a solid curveball and changeup. The most impressive part of Sanchez’s game is his control. The youngster is already a reliable strike-thrower, a skill not typically seen in young power pitchers.

We start to see problems with Sixto Sanchez when we look at the number of innings that he has been able to pitch…

In 2018, Sanchez was limited to just 46.2 innings pitched. The righty was shut down in June due to elbow inflammation. This marks the second consecutive year that Sanchez pitched to a limited workload.

To me, this is a major issue. Sanchez is highly touted but he is so young. The righty has not pitched above High-A. Also, it is never good to see a young pitcher sidelined with arm issues, especially when he still has a lot of minor league innings left to throw. Sanchez did pass a physical, but this is still worth noting.

Philadelphia Phillies

Sixto Sanchez could turn into the next Clayton Kershaw, a fifth starter, or just another promising arm hampered by injuries. The youngster still has many more minor league innings to pitch before he has his opportunity to make an impact at the big league level. The ending of his story hasn’t been written, we don’t know how it is going to turn out.

Alternatively, we can say that the opposite for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies acquired one of, if not the best, catchers in all of Major League Baseball. That is guaranteed and not up for debate. To me, this constitutes a win. The Philadelphia Phillies are looking to be highly competitive in 2019 and the addition of J.T. Realmuto will help greatly on that end.

In my opinion, the Marlins acquired a player with the upside that they sought, but they should have held out for a player with more of a defined future. What if Sanchez continues to be susceptible to nagging arm injuries? Over time, those can take a toll… Now, there’s a chance that it could all work out fine, but the Marlins are attempting to start a new chapter in their history. If Sanchez doesn’t pan out, they are left with a return worth 50 cents on the dollar. Jorge Alfaro is talented and Will Stewart seems to have upside, but neither warrants a return of J.T. Realmuto.

The Marlins had a right to demand the world in return for their star. Realmuto is under team control through 2020, the Marlins were in the driver’s seat, they had the leverage. Yes, Realmuto did want out and Spring Training is fast approaching, but I still feel that another club would have given the Marlins the value that they demanded, even if the return was ridiculous. The Marlins folded on their aggressive position. They received a good value for Realmuto, but as I have been saying, this investment comes with more of a risk. The Marlins need a face to define their rebuild and the face cannot be Derek Jeter. A game-changing great young player will draw in the attention of fans, which will help rebuild their weak fanbase. Sixto Sanchez has great upside, but he is not the player that will define the next generation of Miami Marlins.

In the end, this trade has value for the Phillies that goes beyond Realmuto’s play on the field. Realmuto will have an influence on other players. Could we see improvement from the Phillies’ pitchers? I wouldn’t be surprised if we did… And we cannot forget about the Phillies ongoing pursuit of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Could Realmuto entice Machado and/or Harper to sign with Philadelphia? Having a star like Realmuto will not hurt in that regard…

The NL East should be a fun division to follow throughout the season. The Mets, Nationals, Braves, and Phillies have all gotten significantly better. In the end, I would not be surprised if the Philadelphia Phillies still have another move to make…