Recent information suggests that the Philadelphia Phillies are likely to trade their All-Star third baseman, Alec Bohm. The team is considering major moves this winter after missing out on fully capitalizing on their successful regular season, where they secured their first NL East title since 2011.
Despite having a strong roster, vulnerabilities were exposed towards the end of the season and during the playoffs, especially in the outfield and bullpen. With several long-term contracts already in place, significantly revamping the team will be challenging.
One potential way forward is to trade Bohm, a first-time All-Star still under team control for two more years before free agency. Generally, teams wouldn’t contemplate moving a talented player like the 28-year-old, who had an OPS+ of 117 and a wRC+ of 115, hitting 15 home runs and driving in 97 runs. However, Philadelphia is in need of consistent players throughout their lineup, which has prompted them to consider trade offers for Bohm.
So, why are the Phillies open to parting with this emerging star?
Former World Series champion and two-time All-Star, A.J. Pierzynski, shared a bombshell report on his “Foul Territory Show” podcast that there is more behind this potential trade than just bolstering the roster by using him as a moveable piece.
“There are some people around that organization that aren’t huge fans of the way he acts sometimes. And I am just going to leave it at that. There are some people that have said he needs to basically grow up a little bit. He got benched in the playoffs. If you remember in Game 3 he got benched. It had to do with both [underperformance and immaturity],” he said.
Wow.
It’s long been surmised that Bohm’s poor attitude was something manager Rob Thomson was dealing with internally, having to make sure the moody player was locked in or else it would affect his performance.
“This came from people around the Phillies. I am not saying Dave Dombrowski, Sam Fuld, or Rob Thomson [said it]. But it came from people around and have a lot of knowledge about the Phillies. That he needs to take the next step as a maturing adult,” Pierzynski added.
That’s quite the nugget of information.
Bohm is a streaky player, and his attitude could have a lot to do with it.
Philadelphia has a roster made up of seasoned professionals who are either in their primes or are in the backend of their careers searching for a World Series title.
If Bohm is not going about things in a mature manner, like this information from Pierzynski is suggesting, then that could create an underlying issue within the clubhouse.
This also makes it pretty clear the Phillies are looking to ship the rising star out of town this winter, and if that’s the case, they should do whatever it takes to bring in Alex Bregman as his replacement.
Adding the two-time World Series champion who is in the middle of his prime as an established elite third baseman would take this roster to the next level, which is the exact thing Philadelphia is looking for this offseason.
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