SF Giants can throw Phillies a lifeline for outfield woes with familiar face

It feels inevitable that the SF Giants are going to be sellers at the trade deadline. To what extent they sell remains to be seen, but the Philadelphia Phillies are an obvious trade partner given their need for outfielders.

After a rough start to the season, Philadelphia has righted the ship. The Phillies are now 38-33 on the season and are definitely thinking about the playoffs. However, after likely losing Adolis Garcia for the rest of the season they’ve had to scramble to fill that void.

For now they have turned to prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Forever Giant Derek Hill who they acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox. But if those guys prove to be inadequate then the Giants can gift the Phillies a reunion with Harrison Bader.

The Phillies acquired Bader in a trade last year from the Minnesota Twins. He played great after coming to Philadelphia as he slashed .305/.361/.463 with five home runs and 16 runs batted in as he helped the Phillies make it to the playoffs.

The Giants were hoping they’d be getting that version of Bader when they signed him to a two-year, $20.5 million contract in the offseason. Instead, they’ve gotten an oft-injured outfielder who is currently on the shelf and is hitting .170/.198/.358 on the season with five home runs and 14 runs batted in.

Giants should play the young guys rather than Bader

He’s hit a couple of grand slams which is fun and he’s certainly made an impression with some of the outfield celebrations he’s been involved with, but the Giants would be smart to think about trading him because there really isn’t a point to have him on a team as noncompetitive as the Giants currently are.

It would probably be easy to get the Phillies on board for a reunion with Bader if he can at least get healthy before the trade deadline and they are still struggling to fill the hole left by Garcia. They have fond memories of him from last season and he’d probably like going back to a team he enjoyed success with.

The Giants most likely wouldn’t get a ton in a deal for him but that’s okay. Trading him would get his money off the books, unless the Giants had to agree to pay off some of his contract, and would clear the way for the Giants to give opportunities to Drew Gilbert and Jonah Cox in center field for the second half.

It seems like a deal that would benefit both sides so don’t be surprised if the Giants end up sending Bader back to Philadelphia at some point ahead of the trade deadline. 

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