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Report: Astros, Marlins in contact about Realmuto

The Washington Post / Getty

The Miami Marlins own one of baseball's biggest trade chips and an American League powerhouse wants to get its hands on it.

Miami has been in contact with the Houston Astros about a trade for All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto, a source told MLB.com's Jon Morosi.

The Marlins are eyeing one of Houston's top prospects in outfielder Kyle Tucker or right-hander Forrest Whitley as part of a package for Realmuto, according to Morosi's source.

Houston remains a viable landing spot for Realmuto despite his high price tag because the Marlins would prefer not to trade him to a division rival like the Braves, who are actively looking for a catcher, Morosi reports.

Realmuto's agent said in late October that his client would "be wearing a different uniform by the start of spring training," but that was rebuffed by Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill.

"Agents can say whatever they want to say," Hill told Steven Wine of the Associated Press. "J.T. knows how we feel about him."

"J.T. is obviously a very talented player," he continued. "I would expect there will be interest in a lot of our talented players. It's our job to go there with an open mind of how we improve."

The 27-year-old Realmuto is fresh off a trip to Japan with the MLB All-Stars and had the most productive season of his five-year career in 2018, hitting .277/.340/.484 with 21 home runs, 30 doubles, and 74 RBIs.

He led all qualified catchers with 4.8 WAR last season, according to Fangraphs, and isn't eligible for free agency until 2021.

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