Phillies interested in Alex Bregman and Willy Adames

Last week, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported that the Phils were considering trading an outfielder Nick Castellanosinfielder Alec BoehmOutlook Justin Crawford or left-handed Ranger Suarez as they try to shake up their squad. Today, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports similarly, noting that the club is making Bohm available and will likely be looking for free agents Alex Bregman or Willy Adames if they manage to trade Bohm.

As the Phils look to make some changes, they have limited options. Many of their position players are expensive veterans who are entrenched in the roster either due to their performance, their contracts, or both.

Bohm, on the other hand, is still in his arbitration years and is expected to become a free player after 2026. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz expects him to make $8.1 million next year and Bohm would be due another raise in 2026.

Furthermore, his performance was more than great. At this point in his career, he had a batting line of .277/.327/.416. That equates to a wRC+ of 103, meaning he was 3% better than the league’s average hitter. In 2024, he did have a WRC+ of 115, but in a lopsided fashion, with a score of 128 in the first half and a score of 90 in the second. Additionally, most of his damage came from turn advantage. He has a career wRC+ of 135 against lefties, but a below-average wRC+ of 91 against righties.

Defensively, he wasn’t particularly good overall, although he did show signs of improvement. Defensive Runs Saved gave him a -46 grade in the first four years of his career, but then dropped him to league average in 2024. Outs Above Average had Bohm in negative territory from 2020 to 2022, but slightly above average in the last two years.

Overall he was a useful player but a little below star, and either Bregman or Adames could be seen as a clear improvement. Bregman has hit .272/.366/.483 for a 135 wRC+ in his career and is also considered a strong defender at third base. Adames has hit .248/.322/.444 for a wRC+ of 109 in his career while providing strong shortstop defense, but is reportedly open to moving to other infield positions. Most shortstops are able to transition to other spots in the infield fairly smoothly, so it’s possible that the Phils would expect Adames to provide better gloves than Bohm, even if it were a new position for him.

Implementing these measures would bring complications. Bohm’s modest projected salary is well below what Bregman or Adames are expected to earn in their respective contracts. MLBTR projected $182 million for Bregman and $160 million for Adames over six years, each with average annual values ​​in the range of $26 million to $27 million.

Payroll could be a notable story for the Phils this offseason. Chairman John Middleton has said he expects the wage bill to rise, but that is already happening in some ways. RosterResource projects the club will have a payroll of $263 million next year, which is $15 million more than in 2024, before any moves were made.

It is already forecast that their competitive balance tax amount of $282 million will be above the third penalty level. As a third payer, that means they already face a 95% tax on all the money they add up to the final total of $301 million. Anything they add over that limit would have a 110% tax rate.

Trading Bregman or Adames for Bohm would increase those numbers, but it appears the Phils have at least some hope of making up the difference elsewhere. Nightengale notices that they tried to use Bohm and Crawford for spying Garrett Crochet loose from the White Sox. Crochet had a huge breakout season in 2024, pitching 146 innings with a 3.58 earned run average, 35.1% strikeout rate, 5.5% walk rate and 45 groundball rate .1%.

That performance will make Crochet very popular on the trade market, but so will his salary. Because he spent the early stages of his career either injured or working out of the bullpen, he is only projected to make a salary of $2.9 million in 2025, followed by another arb pass. The Phils have a strong rotation Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher SanchezSuárez and Taijuan Walkerbut Walker has fallen out of favor with the club and will face time in the bullpen in 2024. Andrew Painter could be a factor in 2025, but he’s a big unknown as he still hasn’t made his major league debut and is coming back from a long Tommy John layoff following surgery.

It would obviously be a wonderful series of moves if the Phillies could use Bohm to add a cheap ace to their rotation and perhaps find a way to get rid of the two years and $36 million Walker has left and then to use the cost savings to get a star like Bregman or Adames to replace Bohm in third place.

However, all of this would require approval from other teams. Bohm’s trade value won’t be as high due to his aforementioned deficiencies. Nightengale adds that the Sox are concerned about Bohm’s performance in the second half of 2024. Plus, he wouldn’t have much value to the Sox anyway because his window of control is so short. After Chicago’s record-breaking losing record in 2024, it’s hard to imagine them being able to compete again in the remaining two years that Bohm controls the club. The Phils may need to bring in more potential talent to complete a deal, something they may not want to do at this time given how many players on the roster are filled with expensive veterans.

A far easier outcome for Bregman would be to simply re-sign with the Astros, where he has spent his entire career so far. It’s much simpler, and both sides have apparently had a shared interest in signing a new treaty for years, but nothing has come together yet.

It looks like there is some financial gap. Nightengale reported that Houston wants Bregman back in a deal worth about $156 million over six years, but Bregman is trying to hit the $200 million mark. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last week that the Astros had made an offer to Bregman. It is unknown what they put on the table, but the fact that he has not accepted it yet suggests that it did not meet his expectations. General manager Dana Brown has hinted that the club may need to get creative with the budget this offseason, but owner Jim Crane has indicated that money is there for the right players and all signs point to Bregman being the club’s top priority has.

Bregman has also been linked to the Tigers and Red Sox in the past week, with the latter club considering a move to first base Rafael Deversto accommodate Bregman. Adames is also linked to the Red Sox in addition to the Astros, Atlanta, Blue Jays and Giants. Both players declined qualifying offers and would be subject to appropriate penalties unless they re-sign with their respective clubs for 2024.

Because the Phils paid the CBT in 2024, they would have to forfeit $1 million in international bonus pool space as well as their second- and fifth-best picks in the upcoming draft if they signed a player who declined a qualifying offer. The Astros wouldn’t give up anything except the compensatory pick they would be entitled to if Bregman goes elsewhere, which would come after the fourth round of the upcoming draft.