Philadelphia Phillies: Listen to Bryce Harper and pay J.T. Realmuto

Bryce Harper is right. The Philadelphia Phillies should pay J.T. Realmuto now.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper sent a clear and concise message to his organization in support of his teammate J.T. Realmuto during Wednesday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Citizens Bank Park.

“Sign him!”

After rounding the bases on a home run from Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, Harper’s message was clearly heard inside the empty stadium, echoing the thoughts of many fans as Realmuto, a two-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner set to enter free agency after the 2020 season if a new deal with Philadelphia is not reached.

Harper has been sporting a Realmuto shirsey during summer camp workouts, advocating for the Phillies to lock up his friend and teammate to a long-term deal. While initially silent on the issue, Harper did say earlier this week in a Zoom call with reporters that he “would be sad” if Philadelphia did not give Realmuto a new contract.

“Sad” may not be the right word to describe how Phillies fans will react to not having Realmuto back behind the plate for 2021 and beyond.

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In his one season since joining the Phillies in a trade with Miami ahead of the 2019 season, Realmuto appeared in 145 games with a .275/.328/.493 slash line and career-highs in home runs (25) and doubles (36). He also added his second Silver Slugger Award and first Gold Glove Award to his mantle of trophies.

For the last two seasons, Realmuto has led all major league catchers in fWAR, including a career-high 5.7 fWAR in his first season in Philadelphia. Only 14 hitters in all of baseball were more valuable in 2019, according to Fangraphs.

There’s no denying that Realmuto is not just one of the top offensive threats in the game, but one of the top all-around players in the majors. Reports out of Philadelphia note that the Phillies are willing to pay Realmuto well north of $20 million/year, making him the highest-paid catcher in the league, but the organization doesn’t seem to be close to securing a deal.

Teams may be preparing for Opening Day in a little over two weeks, but we’re quickly approaching mid-July. A deal needs to be done and it needs to happen as soon as possible.

The financial impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are sure to have a major impact on free agency next offseason, but will it impact the top stars of the upcoming free-agent class? If baseball returns to some sort of normalcy in 2021, it’s hard to believe that big market teams will be frugal while cash-strapped organizations continue to recover.

Allowing Realmuto to walk and potentially cause a bidding war among teams won’t help out Philadelphia’s circumstances. The organization already has Harper and starting pitcher Zach Wheeler on the books for nearly $50 million per season, more than 25% of the team’s payroll in 2020.

There’s the argument that the Phillies could spend the $20+ million per season on other assets and let J.T. Realmuto walk, but we’re talking about one of the truly special talents in baseball here and when you’re trying to catch up to the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals, teams loaded with young talent, having Realmuto behind the plate not only makes your offense better but gives your pitching staff a valuable resource.

The Philadelphia Phillies could wait and see how the current pandemic impacts the market, or they could lock down Realmuto before he enters free agency and spend the offseason surrounding him with additional pieces to complete the World Series puzzle.

Listen to Bryce Harper, Philadelphia. Sign him.