The J.T. Realmuto rumors have been silent; until now. Suddenly comes word out of Bean Town that the Boston Red Sox are interested in signing the Phillies free agent. Boston has also sniffed around on Kyle Schwarber. Bringing Realmuto back to Philadelphia is a key for part of the Phillies offseason plans, but having other bidders throwing money at him figures to drive up his asking price in terms of dollars and more importantly, years.
Boston wasn’t thought to be a prime contender for a catcher this offseason. They have Carlos Narvaez as a starter and Connor Wong as a backup. While other teams getting interested in Realmuto will drive up his price, the Phillies can offer the 35-year-old backstop something that the Red Sox aren’t looking to offer him; a starting job. The plan for signing Realmuto is not to have him be an upgrade over Narvaez, but instead to push Wong back to the minors. The 29-year-old Wong has one option remaining and both offensively and defensively, Realmuto would be a sharp upgrade.
Wong struggled at the plate in 2025 with a slash line of: .190/.262/.238 with no home runs and seven RBI. Realmuto, at age 35, slashed: .257/.315/.384 with 12 home runs and 52 RBI, albeit in three times the plate appearances that Wong had as a backup. Defensively, Realmuto’s fWAR of 2.1 is much better than Wong’s -0.7 fWAR from the ’25 season. Boston recently signed Wong to a one-year, $1.35-million deal that they would still need to pay if he were to be optioned out in favor of Realmuto.
Narvaez on the other hand, posted offensive numbers very similar to Realmuto last season and his defensive metrics are impressive. Narvaez caught an MLB high 32 would-be base stealers last season with a 29.9% caught stealing percentage, well above the major league average of 21.5%. Realmuto led the National League in throwing out baserunners with 30 runners caught stealing and a 29.7% caught stealing percentage. With a tandem of Narvaez and Realmuto, the odds of swiping bases against Boston pitchers would be too risky for most teams to attempt.
Speaking of the pitching staff, Boston has three starters – Brayan Bello, Garrett Crochet, and Connelly Early – who are under 27. One of Realmuto’s strengths with Philadelphia has been helping young pitchers continue their development in the majors. His influence as a clubhouse leader also lends value to Realmuto with a team like Boston.
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It remains to be seen just how serious the Sox are about signing Realmuto. In some ways, it makes a lot of sense, but the fact that he wouldn’t be an everyday player unless Narvaez were to get hurt, figures to be a tough pill for Realmuto to swallow since he still believes he can contribute as a starting player.
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Interesting idea and it makes some sense. Just as I posted the Realmuto story, the Sox traded for Sonny Gray. If they were to now add Skenes or Skubal, that would be an awesome starting rotation. Thanks for the input!
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I disagree on Boston’s intent. I think they would then seek to use Narvaez as a big piece in a deal for someone like Skenes or Skubal. He’d be an incredibly enticing part of a package. So the danger of Boston’s interest here is real.
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