Phillies Acquire OF Harrison Bader from Twins

[Squire]

...for 2 prospects

OF Hendry Mendez
RHP Geremy Villoria

[phillychuck]

He’s got to be really cheap. No prospect in our top 20 should be going the other way. (posted when the prospects were not ID'ed)

[phillychuck]

Mendez is too good for this deal. I would have much preferred Alex Call. Phils opted for the faster guy with better defense who can’t get on base.

[bdjackjr]

Ewe... RH Kepler... should just call up Crawford

[zambonir]

So much for Alex Call. Guess they just kept talking. I think this works.

A little pricey for a rental but if he keeps doing what he's been doing this year - an uncharacteristically good offensive season for him - this team just got a lot better with him in CF and Marsh in LF. He hits equally RHP just as well as LHP. Had a .952 OPS in July.

[zambonir]

He has a .339 OBP this year, that would be 4th on this team. Obviously he was not a good offensive player from 2022-2024 - almost Rojas like at times. But he seems to have got it going on this year.

[EDmuch]

I will take him over Call. We did not surrender high end prospects. See what the Mets pay for Robert.

[phillychuck]

He has a .339 OBP this year, that would be 4th on this team. Obviously he was not a good offensive player from 2022-2024 - almost Rojas like at times. But he seems to have got it going on this year.

This year is too small of a sample to rely on. What is likely is that his performance in August and September pulls him back toward his career numbers, meaning he’s awful. His career OBP is 40 points lower than Call’s. That a lot more outs. His OPS+ projection is optimistically around 90, and Call's is around 100-105.

Just for once I would like to feel like I was rooting for a smart team.

[Squire]

I think the guy to compare Bader to is Rojas.

[andyb]

Definitely better than Call mainly because of the CF defense. Contract less good as a rental with a mid-priced option they probably decline. Call had years of control remaining.

Not the worst deal. Another that seems a fair if not cheap price.

He'll take Wilson's spot first, but if he is playing CF then he probably takes Rojas' spot eventually with the option of Crawford replacing Kepler remaining.

[Patchmk88]

Don’t really see anything to complain about with this deal. Got basically a rental having a good season for a mid level prospect.

[phillychuck]

If you can trade Rojas for value then I guess this is good. Andy, how in the world is he bette than Call? We don’t have an OF defense issue, we’re pretty good in CF and LF. He’s faster than Call, but he makes a lot more outs and doesn’t get on base unless you focus on his 2025 or “just July” sample.

[phillychuck]

a rental having a good season

This is a recipe for despair. Players having a “good season” tend to regress toward their personal average. Or below.

[andyb]

We don’t have an OF defense issue, we’re pretty good in CF and LF.

When Marsh is in CF we are below average there. Kepler is decent in LF. Kemp and Wilson are not. Bader in CF with Marsh in LF is better defensively.

Call is probably the better hitter and cheaper. I would have preferred him. Works a decent count at the plate as well. My guess is DD's weakness in these types of secondary deals is to get major league pedigree like with Hays and not go for the lesser known name.

[andyb]

Going to need a 40-man roster move for this trade I believe. Nola already on the 60-day IL. Duran was a 1 for 1 but Mendez was not on the 40.

[Squire]

Feel like one of Wilson, Hicklen or Stevenson is a DFA.

[phillychuck]

Hey Phils, just become a seller for the last 3 hours of the trading deadline period. The market for Kepler or Casty would be strong, I’d think. Maybe even for Rojas. Get back some prospects or some cheaper, better OFs. Or another reliever.

[andyb]

Hope they did not give too much cash for Hicklen. It seemed a meaningless move when they did it.

[zambonir]

It's a mutual option on Bader, those almost never get exercised.

He's a high-end defender, though he's mostly been playing LF this year. If he plays CF and Marsh goes back to LF that's probably worth 1 WAR the rest of the year.

I don't think there is any reason to expect him to regress in August and September. Sometimes guys actually make adjustments or had health issues [which he very much did in '22 and '23]. It's no crazier to think that he'll be good for two more months as it is to think Bohm or Stott can get back to their best selves.

[andyb]

Playing LF deferring to Buxton in CF is not really a strike against his defense. He was pretty good last year in CF exclusively. Him in CF and Marsh in LF is pretty good defensively. Big question is how often you want his bat over Kepler against RHP. Might be kind of 50-50. Bader against LHP 100% of the time and against RHP 50% of the time.

Kepler won't be happy, but he just needs to play better to get more time.