Confusing Harrison Bader admission just exposed major Phillies front office failure

The outfield has plagued the Philadelphia Phillies in recent seasons. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had another offseason to address the position group but made minimal changes this winter. Harrison Bader, who spent the second half of last year with the Phillies, signed a two-year, $20 million contract with the San Francisco Giants earlier this week.

The only exciting change coming to the outfield is seeing rookie Justin Crawford debuting in center field. Hopefully, he can emerge as their anchor in the outfield, but fans should expect some growing pains both offensively and defensively. This is one example where re-signing Bader could've benefited the team's depth at the position.

Harrison Bader doesn't know why he's not back with Phillies

After news of Bader's deal with the Giants broke, he joined The Show podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman and spoke about why he believes he didn't receive a contract offer to return to the Phillies.

"With regards to the Phillies, I just think they have a lot of people to worry about," Bader said. "There’s a lot of money at stake and it’s not just as simple as thinking about me and my career when they’re trying to construct a roster. Why I’m not with them, I don’t know. I don’t know, but it doesn’t diminish the amazing experience I had there. It doesn’t diminish the incredible two-and-a-half months I had there. … I just think they went a different way, which is totally OK."

Bader admitting, "Why I’m not with them, I don’t know," is just one small comment but it will haunt the contingent of Phillies fans that wanted to see him back in red pinstripes.

Phillies missed a golden opportunity to improve their outfield

Bader would've been an improvement for the outfield. However, if the Phillies intend to give Crawford plenty of playing time in center field, perhaps the front office didn't sense any urgency to re-sign Bader. The Bronxville, New York, native has only played in 83 career contests in left field. However, he would've been an ideal complement as a right-handed batter for the left-handed-hitting Crawford or Brandon Marsh.

Dombrowski prioritized finding the Phillies' right field replacement for Nick Castellanos, since he isn't expected to return despite having one more year remaining on his five-year, $100 million deal. Adolis García agreed to a one-year, $10 million contract to be Philadelphia's starting right fielder in 2026.

Perhaps the Phillies jumped too quickly adding García and misread Bader's market? On the other hand, the front office may have had no intention of offering Bader anything more than a one-year contract.

Following the deals with Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber before the 2022 season, Philadelphia has been frugal in the contracts it has offered to outfielders in recent winters. They agreed to a one-year deal with Max Kepler last offseason before signing García back in December.

Bader would've improved the Phillies' outfield if they had re-signed him. Unless Crawford emerges in his first major league season and García rebounds from two disappointing years, Philadelphia's outfield looks like it will suffer from the same problems of having too many part-time players at the position, which has been one of their problems over the last few seasons.