Report: The Miami Marlins Asking Price for JT Realmuto Was Too High for the Dodgers
It turns out that the Marlins were Real(muto) crazy.
Jon Heyman is reporting that the Marlins asked for 3 of the Dodgers top 5 prospects in discussions for J.T. Realmuto before sending him to Philadelphia.
One clarification regarding Realmuto talks: while Marlins sought two key pieces to headline the package for JT, once the dodgers declined to include Bellinger, Miami wanted 3 big prospects from LA, not just 2 since they were all minor leaguers: Lux plus May plus 1 of Ruiz/Smith
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 11, 2019
After their demand for Cody Bellinger was not met, the Marlins reportedly asked for Gavin Lux, Dustin May, and one of the two top catchers, Keibert Ruiz or Will Smith. The Dodgers rightfully declined to meet the Marlins insane asking price. Realmuto has 2 years of team control left on his deal, and while he is a very good player, he isn’t a superstar that warrants that kind of prospect return.
The Marlins settled for a lesser package from the Phillies, mainly because Jorge Alfaro has major league experience. Why a rebuilding team cared about a player having major league experience instead of just taking the better players is a question for Derek Jeter and the Marlins’ front office. In reality, he’s just going to reach free agency sooner and it’s never a good idea to pass on acquiring the more talented player.
Analysis
While Realmuto would have been a fantastic addition to the Dodgers’ offense, the cost to acquire him was far too great to make a deal worth it. There were also always questions if Friedman would even acquire a catcher with poor framing abilities.
With Smith close to making his debut and Ruiz right behind him, the Dodgers will be fine with a platoon of Austin Barnes and Russell Martin for a few months. There is hope that Barnes can get closer to his 2017 numbers when he was a top 10 catcher in baseball after reworking his swing this offseason.
Worst case scenario, the Dodgers can always circle back to Francisco Cervelli to acquire an offense-first catcher, with numbers comparable to Realmuto, at a much cheaper cost.
With an off-season filled with Realmuto rumors, hopefully this is the last we hear about them for a while.
Sometimes the best deal is the one you don’t make. That’s hard for fans and writers because we want to see action. We also never know what was said behind closed doors or why deals don’t happen.
Exactly !
Since the Marlins’ asking price for Realmuto was rather high(IMO), I just hope the catching tandem of Martin and Barnes are Not an “automatic-out”(2-outs) what with the pitcher’s spot in the line-up behind them(crossing fingers).
The question is whether the prospects in question are developed for actual Dodger team or for trade capital. If trade capital then make the deal. If for team then pass and then make the decision…one of Ruiz/Smith better than either Barnes/ Martin. I’d send Barnes packing, keep Martin for veteran presence with pitchers and use Ruiz/Smith as rotation 2/3 games out of 7 and late inning replacement as often as possible to rest Martin.
What is Derek Jeter smoking? If the player was maybe Stanton, then yeah you ask for the moon and the stars –and hope the other GM is smoking something, too– but for someone like Realmuto you have to be a lot more realistic. Anyway, Friedman has a history of keeping his top prospects, so he wasn’t biting, anyway.
Yes a washed up Russell Martin and a never was Austin Barnes certainly makes the team better (NOT).
Only thing to add here is that marlins wanted more from Dodgers than they ended up getting from Phillies but a deal to trade Realmuto at this stage had to be done. But honestly teams usually demand more from the Dodgers in potential deals than they do from other teams….
Not trading for the currently popular shiny object like Harper, Machado, Realmuto is usually a good thing. Many times its like an auction and the bidders get competitive and the bids become insane.
Reading comments from various Scouts and blogs Lux, Ruiz and May are all considered to be good to very good Major League players by 2021. Trading 3 for one player that is a good to very good offensive player but a poor pitch framer is just not intelligent. Especially as the Dodgers must believe Barnes can rehabilitate his swing and be closer to 2017 Barnes than 2018 Barnes. I will usually bet on the player as they are all extremely competitive guys or they would not have made it this far. Barnes can hit, he has hit at every level. Have a little faith in the player.
I just hope one or more of Lux, Ruiz and May pans out to be major league worthy especially the catching prospects, aforementioned Ruiz, Will Smith or Diego Cartaya(hope I’ve spelled his name correct). I’ve read on various posts that Friedman IS notorious for holding on to prospects for teams he has worked for i.e. Rays and Dodgers