Despite the reports and straight up denial from the front office, the Philadelphia Phillies are surprisingly in a pretty good spot financially. With the team’s current payroll of $156 million after signing Archie Bradley yesterday, they are roughly $50 million under their $204 million dollar payroll from last season.

Knowing that, if the Phillies do decide to spend money this offseason, they could likely bring back JT Realmuto for $25 million per season and still cut the 2021 payroll by about $30 million from last season.

Today, the Phillies avoided arbitration with their three remaining eligible players and agreed to one year deals with Rhys Hoskins ($4.8 million), Vince Velasquez ($4 million), and Jose Alvarado ($1 milliion).

The Los Angeles Angels, who were considered one of the main teams interested in JT Realmuto this offseason, just signed free-agent catcher Kurt Suzuki. You can safely remove the Angels from the Realmuto sweepstakes. That really leaves the Phillies, Blue Jays, and Nationals as the three teams that have been mentioned in Realmuto talks. The Blue Jays look to be the front-runners for George Springer and if that happens, it comes down to the Phillies and Nationals.

It would be a nightmare to take Bryce Harper from the Nationals and then watch JT Realmuto sign with them. I don’t believe that would happen if those were the only two teams on the table, meaning it’s likely that the Phillies can not only afford to do so, but will land JT Realmuto before the 2021 season starts.

As for the shortstop position, the Phillies have a ton of free-agent options. They have reportedly expressed interest in Marcus Simeon and still have Didi Gregorius looking to find a home for the 2021 season. I would 100% bring back Gregorius but wouldn’t be upset if Simeon was the signing either. Again, the main point here is that the Phillies have enough money do choose either one.

The Phillies have also been mentioned as one of the 25 MLB teams that scouted Corey Kluber last Wednesday. Kluber is a two-time AL Cy Young Winner and finished third in the final voting in 2016 and 2018. Over the past two seasons, he has battled some injury problems but Kluber is definitely worth the gamble to help provide some insurance on the back half of the rotation incase Spencer Howard or Vincent Velasquez don’t live up to expectations.

If you have the ability to stay under the payroll from last year, while bringing back Realmuto, Didi, and add a few new pitching arms, there’s absolutely no reason why the Phillies should not do so. This would at the very least, build a competitive team with a shot at playoff contention.

The only thing left for the Phillies to do now is spend the money.

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY