While the Washington Nationals were busy introducing their new reliever, Brad Hand, on Tuesday, the division rival Philadelphia Phillies were making headway on their top offseason priority: re-signing J.T. Realmuto.
By mid-afternoon, the two sides were in agreement on a five-year, $115.5 million contract for the backstop to return to Citizens Bank Park, giving Realmuto the highest annual average value ever for a catcher at $23.1 million, beating Joe Mauer’s previous record of $23 million.
Given his performance over the last few seasons, Realmuto more than deserved the record.
The former Miami Marlin leads all catchers in fWAR since 2017, posting a .