Milwaukee Brewers Rumors: Reported interest in J.T. Realmuto

The Milwaukee Brewers have been added to the list of teams that are potentially serious about trading for Miami Marlins catcher, J.T. Realmuto.

As the Winter Meetings came and went there weren’t any blockbuster free agent signings or trades made by the Milwaukee Brewers. However, an anonymous executive thinks they could be in play for J.T. Realmuto.

Of the current teams in the mix, the New York Mets have made the biggest push to bring in Realmuto. But at this point the Miami Marlins are going to be very picky about who they get in return and will continue to have a high asking price.

Why do the Brewers need another catcher?

It is well-known that the Milwaukee Brewers are in search of a second baseman, but adding to the catcher position is high on the to-do list as well.

The bottom of the order in 2018 for the Brewers was inconsistent for the most part. A lot of that had to do with the catcher position. As a whole, Milwaukee catchers posted  a slash line of .237/.294/.363 with an OPS of just .657.

If the Brewers hope to build on their fantastic 2018 season, they will need more production offensively from the catcher position, and Realmuto would give them that spark.

Realmuto by the numbers

Catchers with the ability at the plate that Realmuto has are rare, and he can also handle the job behind the dish.

The 27-year-old Realmuto started in 120 games for Miami in 2018 where he posted a slash line of .277/.340/.484, with an OPS of .825 and finished with a WAR of 4.3.

Realmuto also added 21 home runs, playing half of his games in the pitcher friendly Marlins Park and had 74 RBIs on the NLs worst run producing team.

In his short time as a big leaguer, Realmuto has one NL All-Star appearance and has won a Silver Slugger award.

What will Realmuto cost?

As mentioned above, Realmuto won’t be cheap and if the Milwaukee Brewers want to make this deal happen they have to be willing to part ways with Keston Hiura as well as a few other players.

Another contributor to Miami’s high price is that whoever lands Realmuto will still have two years of team control before he would hit free agency in 2021. This is a big factor that GM David Stearns looks into before making any trade.

Given the caliber of player Realmuto is, he is still relatively cheap. This off season Miami tendered him a contract of $6.1 million for the 2019 season and even with his increase in arbitration next offseason, he would be a steal for Milwaukee.

Now the Brewers may have been called a “legit player” in the Realmuto discussions but we will have to be patient and see how this plays out.

Stearns has made it a habit since becoming GM to pick up the phone and check in on just about every available player. Yet it remains to be seen how serious the Brewers are at this point and if they would be inclined to trading Hiura.

However if Stearns did bring in Realmuto, it would be a sign to the rest of baseball that the Milwaukee Brewers are pushing all of their chips to the center of the table and are looking to win the World Series now.