It has been a busy day for Major League Baseball and the Philadelphia Phillies as the ice begins to crack on free agent signings. Jayson Stark of The Athletic is reporting that the Phillies have made a nine-figure offer to the best catcher in baseball, JT Realmuto.

The Athletic is stating that according to sources familiar with the negotiations, the new offer is for five years and slightly north of $100 million, which is where the Phillies and Realmuto left off before everything came to a screeching halt due to COVID-19 and the MLB-wide freeze on transactions.

It was reported earlier this week that Dombrowski met in person with Realmuto and his wife in Oklahoma late last month. The newest offer was then given late last week.

Various reports do say that the asking price from the Realmuto camp have ranged as high as $200 million. Of course, the Phillies are not at that level but we can only hope that this new offer, which is bigger than the $100 million initially discussed between Realmuto and the Phillies is a nice middle ground to start the conversation again.

With the Mets signing James McCann for four years, $40.6 million and the Angels signing free-agent catcher Kurt Suzuki today, there are not many teams left on the table that have expressed interest in Realmuto, which leads me to believe that they are the current front-runner for the best catcher in baseball. The Yankees signed DJ LeMahieu today and there have been reports that George Springer could be heading to Toronto.

The key here is that there is a conversation happening between the Phillies and Realmuto and it’s bigger than where they left off before the world was shutdown.

We’re in the endgame now. Bring Realmuto home.

Mandatory Credit:  Associated Press