Its interesting to me how much the Realmuto situation reminds me of the JD Drew situation with some obvious differences so hear me out. Obviously, the agent situation is different, Boras had almost outspoken contempt for the Phillies back in 1997-98 whereas Jeff Berry [think thats his name] seems a pretty unassuming and non controversial agent who has no personal vendetta against the Phillies and may even have a positive image of the franchise based on all the good things Realmuto has said about his treatment.
And Drew seemed to have a negative image of the club back in '97 [who can blame him?] while Realmuto, at least publicly, has said all the right things about his time with the team. I think they are sincere, he genuinely seems to get along with a team that definitely likes him and I have to believe he gets along with a good manager who is a former catcher.
That said...much like Drew [and Boras] Realmuto and his agent have made it clear there will be no discounts, no sentimentality and no shortcuts to the signing...they both wanted to be paid the highest sum for their prospective positions, Drew for his status as what many thought was the greatest collegiate player of all time [he was in the top 10 ten for sure] and Realmuto wants to be paid the highest sum ever for a catcher, using Joe Mauer/Buster Posey numbers for comparison. The Phils know this. What we don't know is if they think he is worth it and we probably won't know this till mid winter.
I see this going to a situation where the Phils ask for and receive a chance to offer $1 more than the highest offer he gets from another team and he grants them this wish. No sentimentality, no tears, no hard feelings...simply business. Realmuto has presented this attitude since he joined the team and did so during the arbitration process. I think, ideally, he would like to stay with the Phillies as the highest paid catcher ever in baseball but will comfortably put on a Mets, Yankees or Padres uniform if it gets him to his goal of "highest paid ever" status. Pretty straight forward to me.
The negatives if the Phillies fail to sign him? Harper is going to be very angry and is unlikely to hold his anger in. If Harper is angry, then Boras will be angry and much of the Phillie/Boras good will and kumbaya chantings are likely to disappear. The Phils will also have paid a very dear price for only two years of Realmuto, two years that are likely to end in a total less than .500 record.
This will be on Middleton, make no mistake about it. Any check this large is going to be signed by him and Realmuto bolts he can fire anyone in the organization not named Joe Girardi and it won't matter, he will get the blame and deservedly so. FWIW Dept...I am one who views the Phils as a rich team and believe perception begets reality. If the Phils lose Realmuto they will be perceived as cheap and will lose almost all of the good will they built up with the Harper signing. They will also become an exponentially worse team which is also a negative.
Its going to cost a lot and the final couple of years are likely to be sunk costs but the other reality is likely to be much more negative, and far more long lasting.
