The image of Alec Bohm headed to the Philadelphia Phillies’ dugout while mouthing on camera, “I f****** hate this place,” in April of 2022 seems like a memory from another lifetime. Since then, Bohm has been a large piece of why the Phillies have made it to the postseason the last three years.
The stain on his reputation is when they get to the postseason and the lights are brightest, he becomes a shell of himself. None worse than last year in the NLDS where he was actually benched in Game 2 of the series.
The combination of his poor play leading up to the postseason (.170 batting average in September) and his attitude on the field resulted in the decision to not start him in Game 2 of that series. Since then, he’s been at the forefront of trade rumors this offseason.
Analyzing what is true and what is false amidst confusing trade rumors
With Red October only lasting four games last year, Alec Bohm was one of the first names to pop up during trade discussions. During the Winter Meetings, Rob Thomson told NBC Sports he wanted to reassure Bohm that they were not shopping him:
“I just wanted to secure [Bohm’s] mind, to let him know we’re not shopping him, “He’s a good player, but being a good player, you’re going to get a lot of interest from other teams… Anything can happen, but we aren’t out there shopping him.”
It appeared that Thomson wanted to show Bohm he had his back by assuring him that he was not being shopped but according to Adam Jude of The Seattle Times, that was not the case. Reports state that the Phillies had a very high asking price for Bohm, one of their top starting pitchers, Logan Gilbert or George Kirby.
The Mariners apparently shot that down real quick. The fact that the Phillies asked for such a big return for Bohm would indicate to me that they weren’t very serious about getting rid of him unless the package was one they couldn’t turn down. In my eyes, Dombrowski was just doing his due diligence to see what they could get back in a potential trade.
On December 16, Ken Rosenthal reported that “when the Athletics inquired about Bohm, the Phillies asked for All-Star reliever Mason Miller,” which stopped the conversation in its tracks.
Dombrowski reiterated after the Phillies’ early exit in October his plan going into the offseason:
“I mean, the reality is, we have a lot of good players,” he said. “I think we just have to be open-minded to exploring what’s out there for us, talk to some clubs and see what ends up happening. That process hasn’t started. Sometimes you trade good players for good players.”
How good Alec Bohm has been?
Only three other hitters in all of baseball had more doubles than Bohm last season. He became a first-time All-Star and recorded a career-high 248 total bases while driving in 97 RBIs. The peripheral stats were equally as impressive. His strikeout and whiff percentages were some of the best in baseball ranking in the 92nd and 86th percentile.
He’s in an elite tier in expected batting average over the past three seasons landing him in the top two, seventh, and fifth percentile. The guy simply puts the bat on the ball and gives his team a chance to advance around the bases.
On defense, he had the third-highest OAA (Outs Above Average) on the team last year. Besides his tendency to be streaky at times and his very low walk rate (6.6%), there isn’t much to not like about having Bohm in the lineup especially since he is under club control for the next two years.
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Who do the Phillies have waiting in the wings?
Highly touted Phillies prospect, Aiden Miller is still developing in the minor leagues. He was drafted as a shortstop but has transitioned to third base where he will likely stay. Miller isn’t expected to make his major league debut until 2026. Until then he is continuing to impress us in the minors.
In 462 plate appearances across three levels of the minor leagues, he slashed .261/.366/.446 with 60 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. When he is ready, he will be the one to take the reigns at the hot corner leaving Bohm as the odd man out. This may be Alec Bohm’s last shot at winning a World Series with the Phillies.
