Phillies make it official, sign J.T. Realmuto to 5-year deal

Updated Jan. 29, 2021 3:29 p.m. ET

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — two-time All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto and the Philadelphia Phillies finalized their $115.5 million, five-year contract on Friday.

Realmuto is scheduled to speak to reporters on Monday.

Realmuto gets $20 million next season, of which $10 million is deferred, with $5 million each payable on July 15 in 2026 and 2027, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Realmuto gets $23,875,000 in each of the final four years.

He would receive a $1 million assignment bonus each time he is traded, payable by the acquiring team.

He would get $50,000 each for every All-Star appearance, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger, $100,000 for World Series MVP and $50,000 for League Championship Series MVP. He would get $500,000 for winning an MVP, $50,000 for second and $25,000 for third.

Realmuto’s average annual salary of $23.1 million became the highest for a catcher, topping the $23 million Joe Mauer averaged in a $184 million, eight-year deal with the Minnesota Twins that covered 2011-18.

Realmuto was acquired from the Marlins in February 2019 in a trade that sent right-hander Sixto Sánchez and catcher Jorge Alfaro to Miami along with pitching prospect Will Stewart and $250,000 in international signing bonus pool allocation.

Realmuto made his second NL All-Star team with the Phillies in 2019 and earned a Gold Glove. He had career-highs in homers (25), RBIs (83) and slugging percentage (.493) that season.

Realmuto, who turns 30 in March, hit .266 with 11 homers, 32 RBIs and a career-best OPS of .840 last season. He earned $3,703,704 prorated for the pandemic-shortened season from a $10 million salary.

His deal is the second-largest of the offseason behind outfielder George Springer’s $150 million, six-year contract with Toronto.

To make room for Realmuto on the 40-man roster, the Phillies designated right-hander Ian Hamilton for assignment. Hamilton had been claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners last month.

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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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