The Philadelphia Phillies have an offseason full of difficult decisions ahead. Two of those decisions are whether to bring back Kyle Schwarber or J.T. Realmuto. Both are aging stars that bring talent to the table, but the Phillies can only afford one.
If the Phillies go for Schwarber, they’ll need to find a replacement for Realmuto, as they have no one in-house. Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter proposes the Phillies go out and make a trade with the Minnesota Twins for catcher Ryan Jeffers.
The trade would look like this:
Phillies get: C Ryan Jeffers
Twins get: LHP Mavis Graves, 3B Carson DeMartini
“The Phillies will either need to re-sign J.T. Realmuto, or find a veteran replacement outside of the organization, as there is no in-house candidate to step into the starting catcher role in 2026. After their trade deadline fire sale, the Twins have to be viewed as open for business, and while Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton are the trade chips most frequently mentioned in speculative deals, catcher Ryan Jeffers would also be a useful piece for a contender in need of catching help,” Reuter wrote.
MORE: Phillies predicted to sign $54 million five-time All-Star to potentially replace Kyle Schwarber
This past season, Jeffers slashed.266/.356/.397/.752 with 26 doubles, nine home runs, and 47 RBI in 119 games played. These stats make Jeffers much more alluring: Realmuto hit three more homers and five more RBI, but would cost tens of millions more.
Hopefully, this is the choice the Phillies go with. While it hurts Phillies fans to lose Realmuto, it’s all for the best of the franchise.
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