With the offseason approaching for the Philadelphia Phillies, there are a few players whom they’ll have to make some tough decisions on. We've already spoken about Kyle Schwarber and others, but the Phillies will also have to make a decision on Harrison Bader. 

Bader is set to hit the free agency market during the 2026 offseason and is in a good position to make as much money as he ever has throughout his career. 

He was traded to the Phillies during the trade deadline by the Minnesota Twins and found some success. Not only was he decent offensively, posting a 124 OPS+ and a 117 OPS+ throughout the entire 2025 campaign, but he played above-average defense and posted a 4.2 bWAR. 

When examining what might happen with Bader, Cole Weintraub of NBC Sports Philadelphia predicted that he’d leave for a 2-year, $26 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Perhaps more intriguing than anything, he brought up the idea once again of Philadelphia going out and trying to land Luis Robert Jr. 

“Bader ultimately signs a two-year, $26 million deal with the Angels, solidifying center field alongside Jo Adell and Taylor Ward. This gives Los Angeles more time to develop their top outfield prospect Nelson Rada — the youngest player in Triple-A baseball last year at 19-years-old. The Phillies’ hesitation to offer a second year at a higher average annual value becomes the deciding factor.

“That leaves Dombrowski and his front office evaluating internal options — Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas and prospect Justin Crawford — or exploring a trade for another right-handed option such as Luis Robert Jr. Either way, Bader’s likely short stay in Philadelphia left its mark — and raised the bar for whoever mans down center field in 2026,” he wrote.

Robert has been linked to the Phillies many times over the past three seasons. He seemed like a prime trade candidate in each of those years, so it's safe to say that he could be available this winter.

However, considering the White Sox have yet to move on from him, they might not decide to do so. If the Phillies were to land a player like Robert, I wouldn't view it as a bad thing, but it's also important to note that he's statistically been very bad. 

He struck out 112 times in 431 plate appearances and posted an 85 OPS+ last season.

In recent years, there's a strong argument to be made that he's been one of the most overrated players in baseball due to his health problems and inability to really do much on the field.