Colorado Rockies: A recurring name in trade rumors may be on the move soon

On MLB Network Radio on Tuesday, Jeff Berry, the co-head of the agency CAA Sports, spoke with Scott Braun and Jon Morosi about his client, All-Star catcher JT Realmuto, and his comments are stirring up the market for Realmuto and a team that may (and should be) calling the Miami Marlins about him is the Colorado Rockies.

On Tuesday afternoon, Jeff Berry, the agent of JT Realmuto, was on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM. It has been widely speculated that Realmuto could be a hot commodity on the trade market this offseason but Barry seems to be trying to fuel the fire for the Marlins to trade him when he spoke to Scott Braun and Jon Morosi.

He said that he thinks that Realmuto “will definitely be wearing a different uniform by the start of spring training.” He also said that his client will not sign a contract extension with the Marlins.

There are a multitude of teams that would like to improve their catching situation, particularly offensively as, quite frankly, the catching position is one of, if not, the weakest positions in the entire sport right now.

For Realmuto, he is one of the best catchers in the entire sport.

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In the past three seasons, he has averaged 134 games a season with 16 home runs, 62 RBI, a .286/.338/.454 slash line, and a 118 OPS+.

Defensively, by most fielding metrics, he is in the middle of the road in framing metrics or below average (particularly in Defensive Runs Saved).

The thing that is most intriguing about him is his contract situation. He is arbitration eligible for the next two offseasons (including this offseason) and he won’t be a free agent until the 2021 season so the Rockies would have some control of him for the next few years.

As you may remember, the Rockies offense was, quite honestly, pathetic for much of the season (their 90 OPS+ was 23rd in baseball) and their catchers struggled offensively all season as Chris Iannetta‘s OPS+ was 85, Tony Wolters‘ was 48, Tom Murphy‘s was 58, and Drew Butera‘s was 86 while he was with the Rockies. None of the four hit above .226. Last year, Realmuto hit .277.

Catching is yet another thing that the Rockies might (and realistically, need to) address this offseason. However, there are plenty of other things that are on their list but it will be interesting to see if there are any reports of the Rockies talking to the Marlins in the coming days and weeks about Realmuto.