After all of the events surrounding Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, and J.T. Realmuto, a voice came to mind. It was Dana Carvey (or more precisely, The Church Lady): “Well, isn’t that special?” Late Thursday night, it looked like it would come down to the Phillies and the Mets to sign Bichette and the odds were looking good for the boys from Philly. The Mets had lost out on Tucker and it was easy to see them pivoting to Bichette, but it also seemed it would be too little, too late. And that was even before we knew that as Tucker was heading west, the Phillies had agreed to match Bichette’s asking price of seven years and something around $200-million.

Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies front office probably celebrated with an adult beverage thinking everything was done. Bichette though got a late night phone call from his agent though and the Phillies world was turned upside down. The Mets, who had been rumored to be in on signing Ranger Suarez earlier in the week, threw $42-million per year for three years with two opt-outs at Bichette and he said “yes.” The Phillies do not give contracts with opt-out clauses and the price tag was too steep, especially when you did the math on what the luxury tax would have been, so they were out.

From there, the Phillies misread the temperature of the fan base and before fans could put a dressing on the wound in their back from Bichette’s stabbing, the Phillies announced they had re-signed J.T. Realmuto to a three-year, $45-million contract with incentives that give Realmuto the chance to reach the $20-million per year number he wanted. Apparently, the Phillies decided that would be a good time to announce Realmuto’s deal thinking it would calm the fan base. It didn’t.

We are not amused

Phillies fans didn’t want to hear that a member of the “running it back squad” had been given a three-year deal when that someone was a 35-year-old catcher. Oh, and by the way, there were reports that there was no other market for Realmuto so the Phillies were bidding against themselves. Sports talk radio airwaves filled up with angry voices from fans who were upset with everyone from the Dodgers to Steve Cohen and the Mets and of course, Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies, and J.T. Realmuto. Some were even angry with Major League Baseball because they don’t have a salary cap. Keep track of those people because they will be the same ones yelling about a work stoppage next year when MLB owners insist on a salary cap and the players won’t even hold a discussion on it.

The fact is that Dombrowski and his minions didn’t play this very well. Once Schwarber’s deal was closed they needed to either strike a quick deal with Realmuto or let him know that they were going to look into alternatives because catching is too important of a position to keep in limbo. At that point Danny Jansen was still on the open market and would have made a good replacement for Realmuto. Jansen, who is 30, got a two-year, $14.5-million dollar deal with the Texas Rangers with a mutual option for 2028. Because of what Realmuto has done for the Phillies, they could have offered him the same deal and if he refused, sign Jansen. They still may have had money to pursue Bichette and, they could have gotten in on him earlier in the process.

Not moving quickly and decisively is where the Phillies went wrong. After all, they were going to give Bichette what he wanted and that virtual handshake deal should have stood when the Mets called Bichette. Of course, had the Phillies moved faster, Bichette and his agent would have had a contract in one hand and a pen in the other before any other team was pivoting to him.

Bichette is a snake for turning his back on the deal even though nothing was signed. Yes, the Mets gave him more per season and the opportunity to opt-out, but there isn’t really much that you can’t do with $200-million.

Realmuto felt that the Phillies didn’t deal with him fairly when he negotiated his last deal and they might not have. So then, he shouldn’t have signed it. Or, if he did, decide that unless the Phillies quickly met what he wanted this time around there would be no way he would re-sign with them this time around.

It’s striking that the negotiations and re-signing of Kyle Schwarber went perfectly. The two sides communicated, Schwarber found his best deal, brought it to the Phillies, and they got the deal done. Quick, easy, and no fallout. As perfectly as that went, re-signing Realmuto was a dumpster fire. Now we just have to wait and see if it brings any clubhouse fallout when the gang gathers in Clearwater soon.

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