December 15, 2024
The Phillies left the Winter Meetings this past week in Dallas quietly, though that's not to say they weren't looking for, or at least listening in on, potential deals.
The Athletics were apparently one of the teams that came to the table, asking about third baseman Alec Bohm, per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.
The Phillies wanted All-Star reliever Mason Miller, which shut talks down, Rosenthal added.
A fuller picture from Rosenthal's trade market column published Saturday:
The A’s, meanwhile, still want to add a third baseman, but the industry demand at that position far exceeds the supply. Free agent Alex Bregman is probably too expensive for the A’s, and surely can find a more desirable place to play than Sacramento. Ditto for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado, who has a full no-trade clause. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Alec Bohm is another trade candidate, but when the A’s inquired about him, the Phillies asked for All-Star reliever Mason Miller. That ended the conversation, an A’s source said. [The Athletic]
Miller was a popular trade deadline target across all of baseball this past summer, with the A's season sinking and the club as a whole on its way out of Oakland.
He was also a name that many Phillies fans had circled as a late-season acquisition that could bolster the team's bullpen for the playoffs.
The 26-year-old righthander was an All-Star out of the back of the Athletics' pen in 2024, posting 28 saves, a 2.49 ERA, a 0.877 WHIP, and a 14.4 strikeouts per nine innings rate through 55 appearances, but a broken pinkie finger on his non-throwing hand suffered in late July nixed any chances of him being moved at the deadline. The Phillies went on to trade with the Angels for closer Carlos Estévez as part of their bullpen reinforcement instead.
Miller was able to pitch again by August 7, and it stood to reason that the reliever's name would be back on the trade market in the winter, but the Athletics seem to be well aware of his value.
Bohm, meanwhile, has been the subject of trade rumors ever since the Phillies' postseason run crashed and burned with the NLDS loss to the Mets.
The 28-year-old third baseman broke out into an All-Star thanks to a stellar first half of 2024, but his second half fell off, and then in the playoffs, he spiraled.
While at the Winter Meetings, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told MLB Network that the club has been asked about Bohm, and they are listening, but that "We're not shopping him."
So for now, Bohm remains a Phillie.
The Phillies did leave Dallas with closer Jordan Romano signed to a one-year deal, but are taking him on as a low-risk, high-reward type of signing.
Romano was a two-time All-Star for the Toronto Blue Jays across 2022 and 2023, but struggled through an injury-riddled 2024.
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