Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm has been floated in trade rumors since the season’s conclusion. But now, according to their manager, he’s no longer on the trade block.
At the winter meetings in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday, Phillies skipper Rob Thomson relayed while meeting with the media that he recently spoke to Bohm and informed him the club wasn’t shopping him.
“He’s in good shape. He’s working hard, lifting, and he’s actually hitting all right,” Thomson said about Bohm, per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman. “I just wanted to let him know we’re not — this guy is a really good player. We’re not shopping him. But because he’s a good player, there’s a whole lot of interest in him from other teams.
“I think this is probably the first time he’s gone through something like this so I just want to ease his mind. It’s part of the business that you’ve got to get through. Because it’s the first time, I thought it was important to reach out.”
Now, this could just be a manager wanting to reassure his player, but for Thomson to publicly state Philadelphia is not planning to deal Bohm is fairly significant.
The 28-year-old was previously mentioned in trade rumors involving the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox, but none have picked up much traction.
Bohm is a former first-round draft pick of the Phillies who batted .280 last season with 44 doubles, 15 homers and 97 RBI. He was also named to his first National League All-Star team.
While a solid hitter and RBI machine, Bohm has failed to develop into the power hitter he was touted to be when Philadelphia drafted him in 2018. There’s also his less-than-ideal defense, although his fielding has somewhat improved over the last few years.
Bohm’s maturity has been called into question as well, as he’s not one to shy away from public displays of emotion following a strikeout or an error. However, Thomson defended Bohm against those criticisms on Tuesday.
“Believe me, he’s not the only one on the club that shows their emotion and slams a helmet or a bat every once in a while,” continued Thomson. “But that just shows me he cares.”
Time will tell whether Thomson’s statement rings true, but for now, it appears the Phillies are satisfied with keeping Bohm at the hot corner in 2025.
