The Philadelphia Phillies had a clear need in the outfield around the Major League Baseball trade deadline and solved it by acquiring 31-year-old outfielder Harrison Bader from the Minnesota Twins.
Philadelphia acquired Bader for two prospects and the move had an immediate impact down the stretch. Bader played in 50 games for the Phillies in the regular season and slashed .305/.361/.463 with an .824 OPS. He gave the Phillies the high-end defender they needed in center field and also chipped in five homers, 16 RBIs, 11 doubles, and 30 runs scored in the 50 regular-season games.
Now, he has a $10 million mutual option for 2026 to decide on. MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reported that the current expectation is that Bader will decline the mutual option, but there is interest from Philadelphia in working something out this offseason to keep him around.
“Bader is expected to decline his share of a mutual option, which isn’t a surprise,” Zolecki said. “No mutual option has been exercised by both parties since the Brewers and Aramis Ramirez in November 2014, according to Spotrac. Bader will seek a multi-year deal following arguably the best year of his career. The Phillies said they are interested in bringing him back.”
This makes sense. The issue in the outfield was apparent in 2025 and Bader did exactly what the club needed him to. He’s a Gold Glove Award winner — back in 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals — and showed significant progress offensively at 31 years old. If the Phillies were to lose Bader, they would then need to go out and add another outfielder. Philadelphia is a difficult market and Bader showed he can find success there. The easiest option would be to reunite on a new deal to keep him in town.
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