Thinking out loud about the Phillies offseason: Pete Alonso, Alec Bohm trade ideas, old relievers

Thinking out loud about the Phillies offseason ...

There is one move that would solve a lot of the Phillies’ problems. It is unconventional, and it is probably cost-prohibitive, and, thus, it is unlikely to be a serious consideration for John Middleton, Dave Dombrowski, and Rob Thomson. But it really does make some sense.

Sign Pete Alonso.

Move Bryce Harper back to the outfield.

Forget about trying to trade Alec Bohm.

From an offensive perspective, Alonso is everything the Phillies need. He’s the third thumper that would unlock the middle of the order. He’s a right-handed bat that would protect Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Adding him to the fold would give the Phillies two of the four players with the most home runs since 2021. (Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are the others.)

» READ MORE: Harrison Bader could (should?) be Phillies’ first free agent piece

The Phillies wouldn’t need to worry about adding another outfielder. They would have Harper in right with Brandon Marsh, Justin Crawford, and potentially Harrison Bader for the other two spots.

Alonso makes sense on so many levels. After settling for a one-year, $30 million contract, the 30-year-old should be in line for a cheaper deal than Alex Bregman and certainly Kyle Tucker. Sure, $60 million in AAV for Schwarber and Alonso would be an uncomfortable outlay to lock up first base and DH over multiple seasons. But the Phillies wouldn’t just be adding a first baseman in Alonso. They’d be adding a right fielder in Harper. They’d be adding a third baseman in Bohm, who would suddenly fit perfectly in the lineup.

There are lots of reasons it won’t happen. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t.

Every Bohm trade rumor is a policy failure.

A bad way to build a good roster is to trade away a player who is worth more to you than whatever you get in return. But that’s almost certainly what the Phillies would need to do in order to find a taker for Bohm. He would be appealing to plenty of teams, but all of them are hopeful contenders, and hopeful contenders are rarely in a position where it makes sense to trade a player who can help another contender. The Reds and Royals pulled it off last year with their swap of Jonathan India and Brady Singer. But look at the teams that have glaring needs at third base. None of them are bursting at the seams with high-leverage relievers or power-hitting corner outfielders.

After an extensive amount of number-crunching and scenario-analyzing, I came up with two quasi-realistic deals:

I don’t know how much sense it would make for the Mariners to trade away a bullpen piece, especially given how little they’ll be paying Brash and Bazardo in 2026. Brash in particular would look awfully nice in the eighth inning in front of Jhoan Duran. He has a huge arm and finished 2025 with a 2.47 ERA with 11.0 strikeouts per nine, 3.4 walks per nine, and 0.8 home runs per nine. He is 27 years old with three more years of club control, so the Mariners would presumably want more in return than one year of Bohm. But they have a need at third base and Bohm’s approach could play well in T-Mobile Park’s large outfield.

Stephenson has never quite lived up to his promise, but he is one of the better hitting catchers in the majors. Like Bohm, he is a year away from free agency and facing an uncertain long-term future with a club that is nevertheless trying to contend next season. The Phillies would need to be OK with sacrificing some defense at the plate, which I’m not sure they will be willing to do. From the Reds’ perspective, the argument is simple: Whatever they lose in offense at the plate, they get back at third base, a position that has been an absolute hole for them in recent seasons (and not for a lack of trying). Trade-deadline acquisition Ke’Bryan Hayes won a Gold Glove, but the offense has been nonexistent. I doubt the Reds would be willing to deal from their bullpen, which doesn’t really have arms to spare.

You can’t blame Dombrowski for giving Jordan Romano and David Robertson a chance. You can blame him for spending $23 million-plus to do it (factoring in Robertson’s season-long proration). As with Craig Kimbrel before them, the Phillies discovered that old pitchers don’t stop getting older over the course of a 162-game season. That means no Devin Williams, or Raisel Iglesias, or Ryan Helsley, or Kenley Jansen. Cross off Robert Suarez, too (3.82 ERA away from Petco Park this year).

The only name-brand closer who could be worth his money is Edwin Diaz, who is heading into his 32-year-old season and still going strong. The big questions are whether the Phillies would play the trumpets in the eighth inning, and whether that would lead to sensory overload when coupled with Duran’s entrance in the ninth.

But the Phillies shouldn’t need to spend big money to find an arm or two who can give Thomson options in late-and-close situations.

Some examples ...

Brad Keller: The Cubs signed the 30-year-old righty for $1.5 million last offseason, seven seasons into an uninspiring career that he’d mostly spent as a starter. It took him a month to find his footing, but Keller was dynamite down the stretch, posting a 1.34 ERA and converting 26 of 27 save and hold opportunities in 60⅓ innings from late April on. Keller’s velocity jumped from 94 to 97 as he transformed from a middling strikeout pitcher to a guy whose 27.2 K percentage ranks among the best in this year’s free-agent class.

Phil Maton: Didn’t come out of nowhere, but signed for cheap (one year, $2 million) and whiffed a third of his batters for the Cardinals.

It can be tough to differentiate between the Brad Kellers and the Joe Rosses. But, hey, that’s the job.

One guy who could fit the Keller profile this offseason is Michael Soroka, the onetime Braves starter who hits free agency at the age of 28. The Cubs gave him a look out of the bullpen after a trade with the Nationals. Fastball pushed 97 in his last regular-season appearance. Might be a little too homer prone to ever be a high-leverage arm. But it says something that he piqued the Cubs’ interest. From Keller to starter Matthew Boyd to reliever Drew Pomeranz, Chicago has done a good job at finding value on the pitching front.

Castellanos to the Orioles for Tyler O’Neill, an outfielder who just opted into the last two years and $33 million on the free-agent contract he signed last season. Lots of reasons both sides would say no. Again, just thinking out loud.