January 31st, 2019 at 8:00 am 
by 0799291000348 The Marlins’ shopping its best player, J.T. Realmuto, has become MLB’s equivalent to ‘The Never Ending Story.’ Today it is the Reds’ in “substantive” negotiations with the Marlins, yesterday it was the Padres making “a late charge,” but wanting a contract extension in place with Realmuto before a deal is consummated, and before that the Dodgers were in “intense” negotiations with Marlins. I can almost hear the late, great Dick Enberg exclaim “OH MY!”
Although the process has been excruciatingly slow for fans, it is hard to fault the Marlins from being tough negotiators to exact the best possible return for Realmuto. It is likely that his value to other teams will never be higher than right now, and the possibility that it could drop like a rock during the 2019 season if he is injured and/or has a very ordinary season.
Realmuto is arguably the best all around catcher in MLB today, in his prime as a player, and comes with 2 seasons of team control. For a team like the Dodgers he could be a difference maker in reaching the elusive goal of World Champion. Names of high profile prospects from the Astros, Braves, White Sox, Reds, Padres, and Dodgers have been bandied about for weeks by baseball writers.
(Photo credit – Mike Ehrmann)
There is no doubt that the Dodgers have the wherewithal to acquire Realmuto, but at what cost? Other than Friedman, who places a high value on Dodgers prospects and organization depth, no one knows the answer, but there is the old axiom that some of the best trades are those not made
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This, to me, is one of the most important, if not the most important thing to be concerned with every day. Wondering if he’ll end up with the Dodgers, or not. Tough decisions have to be faced by the Marlins and the teams they are dealing with.
While landing Realmuto would be nice, the Dodgers are a 90+ win team without him, and giving up Keibert Ruiz to get him would be a HUGE blow to the Dodgers.
I can absolutely positively guarantee you that if you had an opportunity to see young Keibert Ruiz play first-hand, you would understand that he is NOT worth giving up for Realmuto. This 20-year-old kid is the next Yadier Molina … mark my words.
My feeling is that as you mentioned we are a 90 plus win team right now and will win the west by 6-8 games. We have the ability to address any need like catcher at the July trade deadline. So we can hold onto Ruiz Verdugo May and have a bright future.
Hello there Stevebendofger! Well the games still have to be played on the field and not on paper and the NL West teams will be out for ONE thing only in 2019…to knock Dodgers out of contention in any way possible. I am not sold on Dodgers at this time being a 90+ win team just yet. In any event I would bet that should Realmuto remain with the Marlins he won’t be such a happy camper and then if Marlins want to move him at the deadline, he has that much less value because there won’t be a full 2 years of team control so wss.
On paper, I think the current roster is closer to a 95 win team than 90. Yes, anything can happen health wise AND we all know that Joe Garagiola was right in more ways than one, “Baseball is a Funny Game.” And, I believe Friedman and his staff is not done with the roster.
AMEN!
Hello SoCal! I concur for the most part because we are still in the off season as far as moves go. But on the page about Seager I expressed concern of having a constant platoon perhaps at 2nd base instead of a guy who can know he will be out there almost daily. And I also understand that an everyday player does not mean a guy plays in all 162.
Regardless of what Dodgers decide to do at second base this season it HAS to be better than 2018 with Forsythe, Dozier, and Utley playing the position most of the time. I believe there are other moves coming that could determine who plays the position regularly, or at least semi-regularly.
Ron, I have read where many feel Dodgers have the prospects and or players on hand to do a deal for Realmuto WITHOUT giving up Bellinger OR Ruiz.
Of course, we Dodgers fans can be a biased group in our opinions of which players the Marlins should take in return for Realmuto. If Marlins had taken my advice Realmuto would have been a Dodger weeks ago 🙂
I am not sure which players ya listed, but I just figured Dodgers had the depth of players that perhaps could get a deal done without Bellinger or Ruiz being a part of it.
Of course the Dodgers have the chips. It’s only a question of whether the Marlins will accept them. They’re playing hardball with good reason.
And what color chips do the Marlins want in return. Reports that they want a couple of black chips and a couple of blue chips. But Dodgers and other teams are only playing with blue and green chips.
At this juncture who here believe that Realmuto remains with the Marlins if in fact he does want an extension from the team that obtains him? I am not sure what team at this point wants to give in to what the Marlins are perhaps still demanding in return.
Realmuto will not be a fish on opening day
At this point I feel the saga has gone on too long and it’s probably best for all involved that he is not a Marlin on OD.