With the Philadelphia Phillies looking for an outfield upgrade for the second consecutive trade deadline, they managed to get their hopeful piece in Harrison Bader. The Phillies acquired Bader from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for prospect outfielder Hendry Mendez and 16-year-old right-handed pitcher Geremy Villoria. So how well did Philadelphia do with the move?
In adding Bader, he immediately upgrades their outfield by providing a solid combination of both defense and offense. Without question, the 31-year-old veteran’s calling card had always been his defense. As a former Gold Glove winner, Bader has compiled 67 defensive runs saved, 35 outfield assists along with an elite .987 fielding percentage over his nine seasons in the majors.
Harrison Bader takes away a home run! 😳 pic.twitter.com/kmiQFMB7gU
— MLB (@MLB) July 30, 2025
Harrison Bader immediately upgrades Phillies' problem outfield
However, many may not have realized but he has also been a solid contributor from an offensive standpoint as well for his career, averaging close to 15 home runs and 55 RBIs per season over a full 162-game schedule while posting a career OPS over .700. This year with the Twins, Bader has bounced back from a couple of down seasons in 2023 and 2024.
He has amassed a respectable .258 average and .778 OPS, with 31 runs scored, 13 doubles, 12 home runs, 38 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 96 games played. With a struggling Max Kepler, Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas posting numbers below that for the most part in 2025, Bader instantly becomes the Phillies' No. 2 producing outfielder behind Nick Castellanos.
Harrison Bader launches the third home run of the inning for the @Twins! pic.twitter.com/6Dc9vV09H2
— MLB (@MLB) July 9, 2025
Bader has similar results against right-handed (.779 OPS) and left-handed (.774 OPS) pitching this year. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski believes in Bader's ability to continue his success, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
“He’s done it,” Dombrowski said, per Zolecki. “He’s been doing it this year, so we think he can continue to do it.”
In terms of the pieces going the other way to Minnesota, the top prospect that Philadelphia had to give up was their No. 12 prospect, Mendez. The 21-year-old outfielder is having a solid 2025 minor league campaign, registering a .290 average and .808 OPS, along with 44 runs scored, eight home runs and 46 RBIs in 85 games played with Double-A Reading. His biggest accomplishment to date was hitting for the cycle on June 20 against Hartford.
As for Villoria, he was an international free agent signed by Philadelphia to a minor league deal during this past offseason. In just five starts with the Phillies Red of the Dominican Summer League, he has an 0-1 record with a 4.50 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in just 14 innings of work.
Phillies' Harrison Bader trade grade: B+
The Phillies did not have to sacrifice any of their top 10 prospects or any everyday MLB player from their roster to get the deal done. Just that in itself makes this transaction a potential low-risk, high-reward move that could end up paying huge dividends for the club.
Added to the fact that Bader has also put up almost the same offensive production numbers whether facing left-handed or right-handed pitching, it makes him “super-playable” for the Phillies down the stretch in their quest for the World Series. And if Bader doesn’t end up working out too well, Philadelphia won’t have to worry about having given too much up to test him out. As a result, the trade deserves a solid B+.