The Philadelphia Phillies may look quite a bit different next season seeing as how a handful of their most important players are hitting free agency and because it's becoming increasingly obvious that the team is in need of some change after yet another disappointing playoff exit.

One of the Phillies' prime potential departures will be long-time catcher J.T. Realmuto, who is headed toward free agency after a rather subpar campaign.

Even if Realmuto wanted to return to Philadelphia, it might be time to move on from the 35-year-old anyway, and Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller has identified who he feels should be the Phillies' prime trade target in that scenario: Baltimore Orioles backstop Adley Rutschman, noting that he should be the priority here.

"If they re-sign J.T. Realmuto, then never mind. But if they don't, trading for a backstop beats hoping for the best with either Danny Jansen or Victor Caratini, who figure to be the two best catchers (aside from Realmuto) available in free agency. It could be Ryan Jeffers from Minnesota or Jonah Heim from Texas, both of whom have one season left before free agency, likely to cost around $6 million. However, those are the backup plans if Baltimore is too bullish on Rutschman," Miller wrote.

Rutschman made back-to-back All-Star teams in 2023 and 2024, establishing himself as one of baseball's best catchers. This past season, however, the 27-year-old was limited to just 90 games due to nagging oblique injuries and slashed .220/.307/.366 with nine home runs and 29 RBI over 365 plate appearances.

For as rough of a year as Realmuto had at the plate, he was still better than Rutschman, who appeared to be on a tremendous trajectory a couple of years ago.

Rutschman entered the big leagues in 2022 and posted an .806 OPS across 470 trips to the dish and then followed that up by slashing .277/.374/.435 with 20 homers and 80 RBI over a hefty 687 plate appearances in 2023.

Since then, however, Rutschman's bat has fallen off a cliff, as he recorded a pedestrian .709 OPS in 2024 before his career-worst campaign this year.

He remains one of baseball's best defensive catchers, which obviously helps retain his value. But given his offensive decline, is Rutschman really the best option for Philadelphia?

To be fair, the catcher market is always thin, so the former first-round pick really might be the best way for the Phillies to go. But if he continues his downturn, the Phils are going to be left very disappointed if they trade significant pieces to acquire him.

Rutschman is under team control through 2027.