The Philadelphia Phillies will have some tough decisions to make at the free agency market this winter, including with recently acquired outfielder Harrison Bader. Bader, who has played well in Philadelphia, was acquired at the trade deadline in a deal with the Minnesota Twins.
In 41 games for the Phillies, he’s posted a .331 batting average and has hit four home runs.
The question for the Phillies is if they believe he’s done enough to justify giving him a decent deal in free agency. He’s playing on a one-year, $6.25 million contract, but some suspect that he could get up to $20 million on the free agency market.
Could Harrison Bader return to NL East?
Bader has never been much of a power guy, but he does a lot of little things right on the field, and should be a big piece to what Philadelphia looks like in the postseason.
Others believe that many other teams around the league could be interested in him, including Sports Illustrated’s Jackson Roberts, who named the Atlanta Braves as a potential early landing spot.
“We’re going from most realistic to least on this list, so let’s open with a player who should be affordable and fits exactly what the Braves were missing for most of this season.
“Bader, who has played for two Braves division rivals in the last two years, can play any of the three outfield positions at a borderline Gold Glove level, and gives Atlanta the option to bench Michael Harris II against tough lefties and not sacrifice defense,” he wrote.
Losing Bader would be one thing, but losing him to the biggest rivalry the team has would be another story.
Fortunately, Bader wouldn’t be a massive loss, but he’s still an above-average big league player, and the last thing the Phillies want is to see that production go to Atlanta.
