Sports Talk with Brodes: How Mookie Betts Impacts JT Realmuto

Mookie Betts just signed a 12-year contract extension worth $365 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This absolutely impacts the free-agent to be, JT Realmuto.

It's easy to sit here and scream at Matt Klentak to give Realmuto whatever he is asking for, but that wouldn't be smart. Because of COVID19, the market has shifted. Or has it?

The Dodgers signing Betts could easily be the outlier. They are a different type of beast when it comes to spending money every single year. From Realmuto's standpoint, I'm sure he sees this as an opportunity to still cash in on one the biggest deal for a catcher. Will that be here in Philadelphia though?

Even if the Phillies allow him to test the market, that doesn't mean they won't be in the bidding war. At this point, it's a risk they are willing to take.

By no means is this an easy decision.

Betts is 27-years-old and plays in the outfield which does not relate to a catcher who is about to be 30-years-old with a ton of miles on the tires. In the game of baseball, the production of the catcher drops fast and it wouldn't be fun to pay Realmuto $23M per season if he wasn't playing at a high level.

At the end of the day, I believe they will find a way to get it done even if it takes bumpy road.