Last week, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported that the Phils were considering trading the outfielder. Nick Castellanosa football player Alec Bohmhope Justin Crawford or to the left Guard Suárez as they look to shake up their roster. Today, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports the same, noting that the club is making Bohm available and is expected to look to free agents. Alex Bregman or Willy Adams if they succeed in trading Bohm.
As the Phils look to make some changes, they have many options. Many of the position players are expensive veterans stuck on the roster, either because of their performance, their contracts or both.
Bohm, on the other hand, is still in his arbitration years, scheduled for free agency after 2026. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz made him $8.1MM next year and Bohm is due another raise in 2026.
Moreover, his performance has been better than great. So far in his career, he has a .277/.327/.416 batting line. That translates to a 103 wRC+, which shows he was 3% better than the league average hitter. He had a 115 wRC+ in 2024, but in a different way, with 128 in the first half and 90 in the second. Also, most of his damage is done with platoon advantage. He has a career 135 wRC+ against lefties in his career but a subpar 91 wRC+ against righties.
Defensively, he hasn’t been very good, although he has shown signs of improvement. Defensive Runs Saved gave him a grade of -46 over the first four years of his career but had him around league average in 2024. Outs Above Average had Bohm in a negative position from 2020 to 2022 but was slightly better than average in the previous two years. .
Overall, he’s been a useful player but something less than stellar, and neither Bregman nor Adames could be seen as a clear upgrade. Bregman hit .272/.366/.483 in his career with a 135 wRC+ and was considered a solid defender at third base to boot. Adames has hit .248/.322/.444 with a 109 wRC+ in his career while providing solid shortstop defense, but is reportedly willing to move to other infield positions. Most shortstops are able to move to other areas of the infield smoothly, so it’s possible that the Phils can expect Adames to provide better glovework than Bohm, even if it’s a new position for him.
Making this move will have problems. Bohm’s projected salary is significantly lower than what Bregman or Adames are likely to receive on their respective contracts. MLBTR projected Bregman at $182MM and Adames at $160MM over six years, both with average annual values in the $26-27MM range.
Payroll could be a significant issue for the Phils this offseason. Chairman John Middleton said he expected the salary to rise but it already has, in a way. RosterResource projects the club to receive $263MM in salary next year, which is $15MM more than 2024 before they make any moves.
Their competitive balance sheet tax number of $282MM is already expected to be above the third penalty category. As a third-party payer, that means they’re already looking at 95% tax on any money they raise up to the $301MM bottom line. Anything they add beyond that line will be taxed at 110%.
Swapping Bregman or Adames for Bohm would increase those numbers but it seems the Phils are hoping to make a difference somewhere else. Nightengale notes that they tried to use Bohm and Crawford to experiment Garrett Crochet was released to the White Sox. Crochet had a breakout year in 2024, throwing 146 innings with a 3.58 earned run average, a 35.1% strikeout rate, a 5.5% walk rate and a 45.1% ground ball rate.
That performance would make Crochet more popular on the trade market, but so would his salary. Having spent the first half of his career injured or working out of the bullpen, he is expected to earn $2.9MM in salary in 2025, with another cap hit after that. The Phils have a solid cycle Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Christopher SánchezSuárez and Taijuan Walkerbut Walker no longer liked the club, he was kicked out of the stands for a while in 2024. Andrew Painter could have an impact in 2025 but is not widely known as he has yet to start a major league game and is coming back from lengthy Tommy John surgery.
Obviously it would be a nice series of chess games if the Phillies could use Bohm to add a cheap ace to their rotation, maybe find a way to get the two years and $36MM left on Walker’s contract, and then use the cost savings to get it. a star like Bregman or Adames to replace Bohm at third base.
However, doing all that will require the agreement of other parties. Bohm’s trade value will not be that high due to his aforementioned shortcoming. Nightengale added that the Sox are concerned about Bohm’s performance in the second half of 2024. He also wouldn’t have much value to the Sox anyway, since his control window is so short. After Chicago’s record losing streak in 2024, it’s hard to imagine them returning to contention for Bohm’s remaining two years in control of the club. The Phils may have to add more talent to make the deal, which they may not want to do right now, given how loaded the roster is with expensive veterans.
The easiest outcome for Bregman would be to re-sign with the Astros, where he has spent his entire career thus far. It’s very simple and both sides seem to have the same interest in signing a new agreement for years, but nothing has come together so far.
It looks like there may be a bit of a financial gap, with Nightengale reporting that Houston wants Bregman back on a deal of around $156MM over six years but Bregman is looking to hit the $200MM line. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last week that the Astros had made an offer to Bregman. It is not known what they put on the table but the fact that he has not accepted it indicates that it was not up to his expectations. General manager Dana Brown has suggested the club may need to establish a budget this offseason, but owner Jim Crane has suggested there is money available for the right players and all signs point to Bregman being the club’s top priority.
Bregman was also linked to the Tigers and Red Sox last week, and the club is considering a move to first base. Rafael Deversto accommodate Bregman. Adames has also been linked to the Red Sox, in addition to the Astros, Atlanta, Blue Jays and Giants. Both players have rejected qualifying offers and will face related penalties, unless they re-sign with their next clubs in 2024.
For the Phils, since they pay the CBT in 2024, they will have to give up $1MM of international bonus cap space and their second and fifth best picks in the upcoming draft if they sign a player who declines a qualifying offer. The Astros would have nothing to lose, except for the compensatory option they would get if Bregman went elsewhere, which would come after the fourth round of the upcoming draft.
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