Los Angeles Dodgers: What must happen for a J.T. Realmuto trade
By Jason Reed
![MIAMI, FL - JULY 29: J.T. Realmuto #11 of the Miami Marlins at bat in the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Marlins Park on July 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) MIAMI, FL - JULY 29: J.T. Realmuto #11 of the Miami Marlins at bat in the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Marlins Park on July 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/6fd223d8a781f569c64d731d5772bae6c9544557de3e05d61018076fafe37ed1.jpg)
J.T. Realmuto has been circled as a potential target for the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason. Here are three things that must happen for a trade to happen.
Perhaps the biggest uncertainty about the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason is what the team is going to do at catcher.
Yasmani Grandal is hitting the open market, leaving the Dodgers with just Austin Barnes on the roster. Granted, Grandal could always re-sign with the team, but his performance in the postseason turned a lot of fans against him.
And while Austin Barnes did not do anything that gained the outrage of the fandom, he simply is not a great hitter at the plate and is average defensively at best. He has a lot of value as a backup catcher, not as an everyday option.
The silver lining is that the Dodgers have an elite crop of catching prospects in the farm system. The only drawback of that is that none of the elite prospects are quite big league ready. Keibert Ruiz is the closest and his absolute earliest projection would be a September call-up this season.
You never know, we see guys like Cody Bellinger and Walker Buehler move through the ranks quickly and establish themselves as solid big league players early on. Either way, nobody really knows what will happen.
One of the possibilities is a trade for J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto reportedly wants out of Miami and the Dodgers seem to be a logical fit. Here are three things that must happen before the deal for the trade to go down.