The Braves are the “slight favorites” to land Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, according to SiriusXM host and Marlins reporter Craig Mish.
Sources : Braves appear to be a slight favorite to land Realmuto. Austin Riley is on the table. Lots of moving parts. Mets & Yanks are still in & probably need to outdo ATL to get J.T. Reds have fallen back. TB/SD def in but longshots. Not imminent.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) December 15, 2018
Mish, who is locked-in to the Miami front office and broke the Christian Yelich and Marcel Ozuna trades last winter, has maintained that the Braves are very interested in Realmuto despite signing Brian McCann and extending Tyler Flowers. He earlier listed the Braves with a 35% chance of acquiring Realmuto, with the Mets at 30%, Yankees at 20% and a handful of others at 5%. As always, trade discussions are fluid.
Mish has reported multiple times that Austin Riley is on the table in trade talks between the two clubs. It’s unclear what other players might be in the discussion, although multiple reporters have shot down the idea that Mike Soroka could also be included. Earlier in the week, it was reported that Sean Newcomb may also be of interest for the Marlins, although (obviously) nothing has happened on that front.
Realmuto, 28 in the spring, is regarded as the game’s top catcher. He batted .277/.340/.484 in 2018 with a 126 wRC+, 21 homers and 74 RBI. He is signed for two more seasons.