Phillies 2025-2026 Hot Stove Discussion

[dcsman]

Personally, I don’t go out of my way to find out someone’s political views, but once I know it’s hard for me to support any MAGA financially. Conversely, I will openly support businesses and people that align with my values. I just think it’s important because money rules the world.

While I agree that sports players may not always be the brightest, in this day and age there are certain values that should just be universal that unfortunately are not.

[Philsmania]

Pete was certainly disliked by some because of the Ray Fosse play. And when I was a kid I certainly didn't realize "Charlie Hustle" was originally sarcastic.

Some of the things/people we are talking about illustrate the fine line between doing anything to win and "anything to win" turning into a lack of moral compass or empathy or humanity. And some of those types also paid a price (legally, spiritually, in terms of mental or physical health).

As I have said before, the very qualities that made us happy to have Rose and Dykstra on our side on the field were the very same qualities that made them reprehensible people off it.

And, PhillyChuck, note the none of Dykstra's ill-fated investors were former teammates, to the best of public knowledge. It's also notable that when Schilling's 38 Studios business crashed and burned no former teammates in any of this stops came to his financial aid. There was always a lot of talk that teammates loved having him on the mound--especially in October--but couldn't stand having him in the clubhouse (and I wonder if that will reflect in the votes he gets on the Veterans Committee). The '93 Macho Row guys thought he was a geek who played on his computer all the time.

[flyers19rw]

Harrison Bader to the Giants on a two year deal.

[Docs]

2 years $20.5M

[jimbomill]

Harrison Bader to the Giants on a two year deal.

Thanks for the update, there for a bit I thought I was a Politics thread
He did well for us and I wish Bader well.

[Jazzhead]

It's churlish to make something as important as beer political.

[Jazzhead]

Bader was a fun addition to the Phils last year, and i wish him well in SF. He has a chance to be a star.

[Philsmania]

I wish Bader well as well. He got a multiyear deal but, for 2026, he ends up making only $250K more than he would have made if he exercised his option to stay with the Phillies.

[Jazzhead]

I understand why the Phils didn't resign Bader; they are determined to present Crawford with a clear opportunity and shot to be a starting outfielder, hopefuĺly for years to come. At some point, to afford the big guns, you need to push the touted rookie out of the nest and hope he flies.

But Bader has ability and charisma, and deserves success and stardom. It won't be with us, but he helped us win a division title, and I'll be pleased to see the white gonfalon flying over CBP.

[andyb]

In hindsight I would have preferred this deal to Garcia. Close to the same AAV but an extra year. It is not like we have obvious OF candidates after Crawford so we could have used Bader in a corner for 2 years even if we still wanted Crawford in CF.

Guessing this deal was not available to the Phillies when they got Garcia of course.

[RolenRules]

Which begs the question: why was DD in such a hurry to sign Garcia?

[zambonir]

Yeah kind of similar to how they jumped on Romano when Hoffman was getting bigger offers (and starting offers). But I think it's pretty much a toss-up. They just hope to do with Garcia what Minnesota did with Bader (and what they didn't do with Kepler). They'll probably need that $10 million (plus Nick's 20) in 2027. Bader will be tradeable if he maintains a baseline level of production but he hasn't always done that, and the Phillies know that. Garcia hasn't either of course but on a one-year deal it's less of a concern.

It seems telling to me that the Phillies, Mets and Yankees all had little interest in Bader having already had him once, and all could have used him (even the Yankees with Bellinger since he's barely a CF and also a LHB).

[allentown]

A guy I wanted us to sign. We'll have to wait and find out the contract details before knowing if this was a missed opportunity.

[RolenRules]

2 years $20.5 million per MLBTR. Another $500k in possible incentives.

It does feel like a missed opportunity. I guess DD wanted a RHB "power" bat regardless of the ultra low OBP that Garcia has provided the past two years.

[julio]

Realistically, I think you'll find that most owners of large breweries - like most large corporate ownership - lean Republican. I would think that only some of them are MAGA (as in, Trump cultists, nihilists, etc.). But if you're looking for a brew that's made by people who don't reflect the corporatist philosophy, you probably need to explore some of the craft brewers - the artisans, as opposed to the manufacturers. They're more likely spread across the philosophical spectrum - and they typically aren't publicly traded, answerable to Wall Street analysts who can't see past the next quarterly report. (Yeah, I don't think Yuengling is publicly traded, but still..)

[Austinfan]

I suspect Bader was looking for a 3 year deal with a raise, something on the order of 3x14M or so.
Phillies might have gone for the 2 year deal, but didn't want to wait to see if his price went down and get caught standing in a game of musical chairs.
Garcia is one year, his defense makes him an upgrade over Castellanos even if he has a so-so offensive season.
And if Rincones continues to develop, an obvious platoon.

[zambonir]

There's something to be said for buying low on a bounce-back free agent versus buying high on a guy coming off a career year. They clearly value Garcia's somewhat better power (hard-hit balls, exit velocity) over Bader's possibly unsustainable bat speed and BABIP, and the defense is the same. Garcia might be able to be a middle-of-the-order bat again. Bader is not going to turn into one.

It's also a commitment to Crawford.

One assumes Garcia had other offers that prompted the Phillies to snap him up so quickly, even as they are still carrying Nick's contract. And at the end of the day, for all the talk about how they'd love to have Bader back, they didn't really want him back. They can read his baseball card and remember the slumps and injury he had even amidst his magic short-term contribution.

[RolenRules]

Z: but buying low on the bounce-back candidate cost practically the same as the buying-high guy with much better more recent results.

Garcia is a fine defensive RF. But Bader is an ELITE defensive CF, a more valuable position. And most analysts think Crawford is not suited for CF duty.

Time will tell, and I would love to be proven wrong, but I think signing Garcia instead of Bader is a mistake.

[zambonir]

Bader is aging, and he wasn't even the CF in MInnesota last year. The Crawford part, we shall see. But I don't think a Crawford/Bader/Marsh OF was going to be the answer for this team (moving Marsh from his best position to accomodate Crawford) and I don't really think it was Bader's fielding that helped the Phillies, it was his hot bat (until it wasn't hot) and just getting Nick off the field. He also, ironically, didn't hit LHP last year, which in some ways is probably a plus but also not what the Phillies need.

I dunno that Garcia is the answer either. Clearly the Phillies would be better if they'd signed Tucker or Bellinger or landed Bichette. But committing to Crawford in CF makes sense to me. Bader was a 0.6 WAR player in '23 and 0.9 in '24. That's all an elite CF gets you when he can't hit.The Phillies need one big bat in the OF. Garcia might never hit 30 home runs again but Bader might never have a 100 OPS+ again (before last year he hadn't done it since 2021).

[allentown]

Bader is aging, and he wasn't even the CF in MInnesota last year.

a
Garcia is a little over a year older and was not signed to play CF.