One of the biggest concerns for the Philadelphia Phillies heading into the 2026 season is the makeup of the outfield. There are plenty of question marks with the position group, one of those simply being its depth.
That made it even more odd when the front office decided not to bring back one of the key pieces to the team’s run down the stretch last fall in Harrison Bader. The veteran outfielder ended up signing a two-year deal to join the San Francisco Giants.
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Shortly after the deal was announced, Bader spoke with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman and seemed pretty surprised that he didn’t end up back in Philly, but was still appreciative of his short stint with the organization.
“It was probably some of the best baseball I’ve ever been a part of. That was the most incredible fan base that I’ve ever had an opportunity to play in front of for a couple of months. I mean, you kind of go around that locker room… those are guys that you just have so much respect for because, the way I put it is, they sit at a different table in the major leagues,” explained Bader.
The veteran also expressed wuitr a bit of gratitude for Rob Thomson, Dave Dombrowski, and the ownership group.
Oct 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Harrison Bader before game one of the NLDS round of the 2025 MLB playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Bader couldn’t give a clear answer as to why he thinks he didn’t end up back in Philly, but did offer a possible explanation regarding payroll and roster construction.
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“I just think that they have a lot of people to worry about,” continued Bader. “There’s a lot of money at stake andit’s not just as simple as thinking about me and my career when they’re trying to construct a roster. So why I’m not with them? I don’t know. But it doesn’t diminish, you know, the amazing experience I have there.”
Bader had a tremendous run with the Phillies are being traded to the organization at the deadline. The veteran logged a .305/.361/.463 slashline with an OPS of .824 during his 50 games in Philadelphia.
That said, Bader’s stats from 2025 do stand out as being an outlier compared to his past season, which could have been one of the reasons the Phillies opted not bring him back.
If Bader ends up being the same player he was last season with the Giants, and Philadelphia’s outfielder remains an issue through the year, then the decision not to re-sign Bader could really come back to hurt Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies.
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