Phillies: Biggest Do’s and Don’t’s at the Trade Deadline

Don’t: Sell low on Alec Bohm

It’s safe to say that Alec Bohm has fallen victim to the dreaded sophomore slump. It might be tempting to try and unload Bohm at the deadline or package him in a deal for a premier player, but unless it’s truly the perfect deal I think it would be a mistake. If the Phillies try to trade Bohm right now, they’d be trading him at a time when his stock has never been lower.

The soon-to-be 25-year-old third baseman is slashing just .243/.298/.343 on the year and has been a liability defensively. On top of his traditional stats, he has a -0.9 WAR and his 76  WRC+ is “good” enough for fourth-worst among all qualifying major league third basemen. This is hardly the follow-up that Bohm and the Phillies were hoping for after he finished second in NL Rookie of the year voting last season.

Lately, Alec Bohm has given the Phillies a nice lift

For what it’s worth, Bohm has looked better as of late. Since June 1, Bohm has hit .315/.383/.417. His lack of power is still concerning; he has just seven extra-base hits in that same time frame, but it’s definitely been encouraging to see him return to some semblance of his rookie form.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see teams asking the Phillies to include Bohm in any major trade negotiation, trying to strike while Bohm is struggling. If possible, Dombrowski, general manager Sam Fuld, and the rest of the team’s front office need to hold off. Bohm’s overall year has largely been a mess, but if they trade him they’d be selling low on one of their former top prospects.

Alec Bohm still has the potential to be a major part of the Phillies’ core in the future, and I am not ready to give up on him quite yet. That said, I am not completely against moving Bohm at the deadline in the perfect move, but it would need to be just that, the perfect deal.