Mets: Why trading for J.T. Realmuto doesn’t make sense at the moment

There’s no doubt J.T. Realmuto has immense talent. The New York Mets are in talks with the Marlins in regards to trading for him, but they shouldn’t be.

New York Mets‘ General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen has repeatedly said, “We will win now, we will win in the future. We want to develop a winning culture and a winning mindset and we will deliver this city and this fan base a team they can be proud of.”

One step toward accomplishing this goal is by acquiring top-of-the-line talent. There is no denying that Miami Marlins’ all-star catcher J.T. Realmuto is talented. The Mets have had ties to Realmuto for almost a year now and there is newfound speculation that Realmuto may become a Met.

Although this may sound like an excellent idea to many, acquiring a top talent like Realmuto comes with a very steep price. With an already depleted farm system after losing Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn in the Cano/Diaz deal earlier in the offseason, the Mets simply don’t have the assets to make this deal.

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Reports are saying that the Marlins are asking for either Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, or Amed Rosario in addition to a top prospect or two. Creating multiple holes on the roster just to upgrade at one position wouldn’t be a wise decision and quite frankly, the Mets just don’t have the depth like other teams do in the minor leagues to make this deal.

Another question to consider is how much better is Realmuto than the other catching free agents? Is he that much better than Yasmani Grandal, or Wilson Ramos? The answer is no.

Take Grandal, for example, a better framer and better overall defensively compared to Realmuto. Since 2016, Grandal has a DRS of 39 (1st among catchers), 73 home runs (2nd among catchers), and a fWAR of 9.0 (3rd among catchers).

Those are some pretty respectable stats and are nearly identical, if not better than Realmuto’s. Taking this into consideration, the difference between Realmuto and Grandal is not great enough for the Mets to sacrifice important players and assets. A similar comparison can be done with Ramos, as well.

Although it is true that signing Grandal or Ramos will monetarily cost substantially more than acquiring the arbitration-eligible Realmuto via trade, it would be better for the franchise to open up their wallets and pay either Grandal or Ramos as opposed to giving up a boatload for just two years of club control of Realmuto.

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If I’m Van Wagenen, I keep the core of Conforto/Nimmo/Rosario in place and sign Grandal (preferably) or Ramos to address the catching situation. This will be the next step in accomplishing his goal of winning now, and in the future.