When the offseason began, it seemed that it was a given that J.T. Realmuto would return to the Phillies. While he was a free agent able to sign with any team he chose, it seemed like he wanted to return to Philadelphia, and the Phillies wanted him back.
But we’ve reached January, and Realmuto has yet to re-sign. And then, a few days ago, there were rumors that the Phillies were interested in free agent infielder Bo Bichette. According to Scott Lauber, if the Phillies signed Bichette, there wouldn’t
be room in the budget for Realmuto, and they’d have to seek other options at catcher.
Bichette would be a sizable upgrade over Alec Bohm at third base. The two-time All-Star will be 28 next season and is coming off a year where he had an .840 OPS. His right-handed bat would fit nicely in the top of the Phillies’ order with Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Kyle Schwarber.
The question is: How much of a downgrade would the Realmuto replacements be at catcher?
It isn’t clear how good Realmuto himself will be over the next few seasons. Realmuto is still good defensively – although not as good as in his Gold Glove-winning prime – but offensively, he’s steadily progressed from “good hitter” to “good hitter for a catcher” to “good enough hitter for a good defensive catcher.” (.700 OPS with 12 home runs in 2025.) At age 35, with a lot of innings under his belt, it’s hard to see that trend reversing significantly.
Part of the reason it seemed like Realmuto was destined to return was because there was a dearth of options to replace him. Rafael Marchan hasn’t shown he can stay healthy for a full season and hit poorly in his 118 plate appearances last season. The best free agent option appears to Victor Caratini, who is a solid hitter, but entering his age 32 season, has only played more than 100 games in a season twice. (One of those coming last year.) It’s possible that a tandem of Caratini and Marchan could be viable, but certainly not a given.
As far as trades go, Adley Rutschman is the biggest name thought to be available, but there are questions with him as well. His offensive numbers have taken a severe downturn the past two years, and he was downright bad at the plate for much of 2025.
Additionally, the Phillies might not have the trade capital to get him. If they signed Bichette, they’d be theoretically more willing to trade prospect Aidan Miller, but the Orioles appear pretty set in the infield at the moment and might not value Miller that highly. And Andrew Painter would be a high price to pay for a player coming off a poor season.
While this is all fun to discuss, I think this is largely just a case of agents and teams trying to improve their positions via the media. Bichette’s agent wants teams to think that the Phillies are interested to put more pressure on his other more likely suitors. And the Phillies are happy to play into it, to put more pressure on Realmuto to just re-sign with them already before they pivot to other options.
In the end, I’d say the most likely scenario is that Bichette signs elsewhere, and the Phillies and Realmuto compromise on a two-to-three-year contract. But until that actually happens, expect to read more speculation from media members about the Phillies’ potential alternative plans.
