The Washington Nationals are the team most heavily engaged in talks with the Miami Marlins about catcher J.T. Realmuto according to Craig Mish of Sirius XM radio.
Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports reports that the Marlins have been asking for Nationals top prospect outfielder Victor Robles in return for Realmuto.
The Marlins continued their fire sale on Thursday when they traded outfielder Christian Yelich to the Milwaukee Brewers for top prospect Lewis Brinson and three other prospects. Leaving Realmuto as the last big trade piece the Marlins have to deal after he requested a trade.
Matt Wieters is the current Nationals starter at catcher after he triggered his player option for $10.5 million earlier this offseason. The veteran is coming off a horrible 2017 in which he had a .632 OPS, the fourth worst among hitters with at least 400 plate appearances. His -0.6 WAR was a career worst for him and he ranked 107 out of 110 catchers defensively according to Baseball Prospectus with -12.9 fielding runs above average.
The Nats also have the young Pedro Severino (.743 in 69 MLB PA) as their backup with No. 9 prospect Raudy Read having made his MLB debut last year.
Realmuto, 26, was good for 3.6 WAR behind the dish for Miami in 2017. He also clubbed 17 home runs and drove in 65 runs while hitting to a .278/.332/.451 clip in 579 plate appearances. He also rated as the sixth best defensive catcher in baseball last season according to BP with 14.5 FRAA.
Realmuto is arbitration eligible for the first time in 2018 and can become a free agent in 2021.
