The Philadelphia Phillies wisely didn't give in to the temptation to give Alec Bohm the qualifying offer in hopes of recouping a draft pick if he departs in free agency. While the club and Bohm could reunite this winter, the more likely scenario is that the Phillies attempt to find a player who can make a greater impact.
That search could go high and low. There's a chance that Philadelphia targets NPB superstar Teruaki Sato as Bohm's successor at the hot corner, but if Jim Bowden's five-year, $140 million contract projection is accurate, price could be an issue.
The Phillies might need to start looking WORLDWIDE for some extra firepower… 👀🇯🇵@JimSalisbury215 has heard there's interest in Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato, but his defensive shortcomings could complicate a potential deal. pic.twitter.com/idGC3KEyqF
— The Phillies Show (@ThePhilliesShow) October 27, 2026
Defensive concerns could force Sato to the outfield or first base, the latter of which would be an issue for the Phillies. On top of that, replacing Bohm with another left-handed bat would further worsen the team's lineup imbalance.
Getting a defensively competent right-handed bat to man the hot corner would be ideal, and Philadelphia could turn to the trade market to snag a buy-low, high-upside candidate in Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg.
The Phillies could replace Alec Bohm at a discount by taking advantage of the Orioles' logjam and trading for Jordan Westburg
The Orioles are hurting in two specific areas right now. They desperately need help in the starting rotation, and their outfield is a mess. As a result, their president of baseball operations, Mike Elias, is willing to trade anything that isn't nailed down (minus Pete Alonso) to upgrade both two areas.
Third base, in particular, is a surplus area for Baltimore. The Orioles acquired Christian Encarnacion-Strand in what seemed like a throwaway trade with the Cincinnati Reds back in April. At the time, Encarnacion-Strand was a Quad-A player, cracking homers at a furious pace in the minors, but suffering from a severe case of the swing-and-miss in the majors.
But when Baltimore called him up in July, the 27-year-old blossomed and hit .277/.325/.513 with 11 homers over 58 games down the stretch for the Orioles. He wasn't the only former top prospect at the position to break out either.
Coby Mayo had a similar story, minus the change of scenery. Mayo entered 2026 with -0.3 fWAR over his first 102 career major league games. He got off to a slow start again in 2026, but went red hot in the second half, posting an .876 OPS. Overall, he hit .228/.297/.461 with 24 dingers over 132 games.
These two youngsters got a chance at redemption after presumptive starter Jordan Westburg suffered a torn UCL in spring training that cost him the entire 2026 season.
When healthy, Westburg, a former top prospect and first-round pick in his own right, has been a productive hitter from the right side. In 2025, he hit .265/.313/.457 with 17 long balls, just off his career average of .264/.312/.456.
Westburg doesn't walk often, drawing free passes at just a 5.4% rate for his career. However, he doesn't post an egregious number of strikeouts either, going down via the K at a 22.7% clip. With his power, the profile plays.
The issue with Westburg, and the other reason his price tag will be so low, is durability. He was limited to just 85 games in 2025 and has never logged more than 107 contests in a single season. The good news is that none of his maladies have been of the chronic variety. If the health gods smile on him, he'd be a sneaky good pickup. His injury history isn't too dissimilar to Jesús Luzardo's before he arrived in Philly.
There's also some added value with Westburg. He's under team control for three more seasons and is projected to make just $1.5 million in 2027, his first year of arbitration.
He's under extended team control, and he won't eat up much payroll, saving resources for the Phillies to chase other needs. A deal for Westburg could allow the Phillies to construct a roster where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
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