The Philadelphia Phillies are addressing all of their needs this trade deadline with a clear motive of going to the World Series. They are in a tight National League East race with the New York Mets, who have also been one of the most active teams this deadline.
Late yesterday, the Phillies pulled off a massive deal to acquire Jhoan Durán from the Minnesota Twins, who are clearly selling their tradable assets. The Phillies are keeping that momentum going with another deal with the Twins for another one of their top needs, a center fielder.
Phillies Making A Deal for Harrison Bader
The news is in: the Philadelphia Phillies are making a deal for Minnesota Twins’ center fielder Harrison Bader, who will presumably slot into the Phillies outfield immediately. ESPN Insider Jeff Passan was first on the news. Bader can provide both offense and defense; his bWAR is 2.3 higher than both Phillies’ center fielders, Johan Rojas and Brandon Marsh. The Twins are receiving two prospects in return, outfielder Hendry Mendez and pitcher Geremy Villoria.
Philadelphia is getting a scrappy player in Bader, who is hitting .258 this season with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs.
The Athletics’ Ken Rosenthal provides some insight on why Bader is a great acquisition:
“A February signee for a modest $6.25 million, Bader has exceeded expectations this season. Largely brought in as a defensive specialist, the 2021 Gold Glove winner is having his best offensive season since 2021. An inconsistent bat the past three seasons, Bader is hitting for power (.439 slugging percentage with 12 homers) and getting on base (33.9 percent of the time) more than he has since his St. Louis days.”
Rosenthal also mentioned that Bader is a “defensive wizard” at 31 years old. He has 11 defensive runs saved this season in a combination of games in left field and center. He is also one of those players on an expiring contract, so no surprise that he is getting moved, but there were several other teams, including the Phillies’ rival New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the New York Yankees, that showed interest.
Philadelphia will serve as Bader’s sixth MLB organization in his career. After spending his first six years with the St. Louis Cardinals, he has essentially been with a different team every year since then, and that trend will continue.
What Does This Trade Do for Philly?
The Philadelphia Phillies have one of the best, well-rounded rosters in all of baseball, and now that they have addressed their top two dire needs, they have to be one of the clear favorites in the National League to make it to the World Series. Bader will immediately slot into the Phillies outfield and likely will get everyday at-bats.
It will be interesting to see if they make any more moves as the trade deadline is just under four hours away, but if this is it, they have certainly made a splash and a statement that they are going all-in. They have acquired the pieces necessary for the final two-month push of the regular season and extra baseball that they will likely take part in October.
Phillies Acquire 12 Home Run Outfielder From AL Seller