For the past week, we have been inundated with news that the team was circling Bo Bichette is the free agency chase. The pursuit of his services had obsessed the fanbase this entire week, memes and threats and promises circulating around social media, mental health threatened should he decide to ply his trade somewhere other than Citizens Bank Park. We’ve had gotten to the point where once Jeff Passan sent out a Tweet, many thousands of voices were raised, shouting in unison “ANNOUNCE BICHETTE TO THE PHILLIES!”
It obscured the fact that the team was still pursuing another free agent, their own catcher from the past six seasons in J.T. Realmuto. The game of chicken that the player and team were engaged in had gone from understandable to annoying to downright strange in a short amount of time. The concept of his moving on to another organization had become something of an afterthought as many people remained transfixed on the outcome of the Bichette negotiations, understandably wanting to see the team reel in the big fish.
Now that we know the final outcome, that the team would re-engage with Realmuto and ultimately bring him back, that type of pivot should not be considered a letdown. While it was undeniably a disappointment once Bichette ended up taking Steve Cohen’s money, bringing Realmuto back into the fold does still makes the team better on the field. The step down offensively from what Bichette would have theoretically brought to the lineup as opposed to a declining Realmuto is akin to bungee jumping off the Burj Khalifa, but seeing Realmuto back in pinstripes still makes the roster a good roster.
There are a lot of angles to view Realmuto returning to Philadelphia, the first of which pertains to how the infield will work. They still have players in place that have shown they can produce in a positive way even if we’re left with a sour taste in our collective mouths from their postseason shortcomings. Alec Bohm likely stands pat and should continue being somewhere in the 2-3 WAR range while Bryson Stott mans second base and gives roughly the same. While Realmuto’s contributions might cap out somewhere in the 2.5-3 WAR space, that’s probably still better than what a combination of Rafael Marchan and some outside presence would have given behind the plate in his stead. If that outside presence had to present itself in the form of Ryan Jeffers, maybe that changes the calculus a bit. Yet it is reasonable to think that Bichette + Stott + an outside catcher would have been at least equal to or maybe a tick better than Bohm + Stott + Realmuto.
One reason that people were so rabid over Bichette is that his upside still looks like it has an upward slant to it compared to the plateauing that Bohm seems to have achieved. Plateauing at 3 WAR isn’t exactly what we may have had in mind when Bohm was drafted, but it’s still a productive major league player. Bichette, though, has proven that there is still some gas in the tank, perhaps even being the premium gas variety as opposed to the regular that fills Bohm. If Bichette were to get back to that level he was to begin his career, perhaps thanks to a position switch that looks more favorably on his defense at a position that isn’t at the end of the spectrum, his contributions would be favorably looked on.
There is also the angle of how signing Bichette would have affected how the team would be able to do business outside of simply signing free agents. Had the decided to match the offer ultimately accepted, we would have seen something like this:
loss of 2nd and 5th round draft picksloss of $1 million in international draft spacemoving back another 10 spots with their first draft pick in 2026taxed 100% on every dollar spent on Bichette’s dealno guarantee they’d have him beyond 2026 with the inclusion of an opt-out
At some point, the Phillies are going to have develop players from within. The supply of free agents available for them to sign is starting to dwindle thanks to the influx on contract extensions we’ve seen filter into the sport in the past few years. Even the ones that would have been available to them wouldn’t provide the kind of impact that they might need. That means that drafting and developing their own players from within is going to be crucial to filling out the major league roster. Hitting on some of those picks to be stars (or more) is something that can still be dreamed on, which is why the hopes for Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter are so high, but the team could also use some players to just be good regulars. Producing them means have the means to draft them in the first place, so keeping those two picks might be beneficial in the long run.
Not to be forgotten in all of this is what Realmuto does actually mean to the team and how they plan on winning. The facts are that his bat has declined and his defense has declined as well. Those are not the things people want to hear in the wake of losing out on a major free agent while then turning around and giving that declining player three years. Yet the team’s window to contend is largely being propped open by the strength of their pitching staff. Having Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo as the top three members of the starting rotation is a troika of arms most around the league would want to employ. Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker are wild cards at the moment in what they can provide, while Andrew Painter and his development bear close scrutiny. Isn’t making sure they have a game manager as well equipped to succeed as Realmuto something the team would highly value? We haven’t even mentioned how much better the bullpen is top to bottom compared to what they had at the end of the postseason. Putting this pitching staff in the hands of an inferior option may lead to open revolt. Leading this staff, as well as continuing to mentor and help whatever young arms the team plans on promoting, is something that will help them….say it with me…“in the long run”.
No one wants to hear about the long run though, which is why signing Realmuto and losing out on Bichette is a bummer. It isn’t often that Dave Dombrowski loses out on a free agent once that name becomes public, yet here we are. But it isn’t that huge of a loss that this is the roster construction they are forced to make. They took their best shot at Bichette and didn’t win. That happens in free agency.
It just isn’t the end of the world.