Phillies rightfully pass on extending Alec Bohm a $23.15 million qualifying offer

The Phillies had a chance to hand Alec Bohm $23.15 million for one more year and thank the high heavens, because they passed.

Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline came and went without the Phillies extending the qualifying offer to their longtime third baseman. Free agency opened at the same time, so Alec Bohm is officially on the open market and can sign anywhere.

No draft-pick compensation is attached, and no strings either.

Technically, the door isn’t closed.

The Phillies can still try to bring him back on a cheaper deal but I’m comfortable calling it the end of the Alec Bohm era in Philadelphia.

Alec Bohm is not a $23.15 million player

Alec Bohm made $10.2 million in 2026. The qualifying offer would have more than doubled that, and there was a very real chance he’d take it.

Think about that. The Phillies would have been paying over $23 million to a third baseman with a .698 OPS, not much power and a glove nobody’s writing home about.

Yes, passing means the Phillies get nothing if he signs somewhere else. Had they made the offer and he’d turned it down, they’d have received a compensatory pick after the fourth round because they were over the luxury tax.

A fourth-round comp pick. Nobody’s losing sleep over that.

The same old Alec Bohm rollercoaster

Bohm’s 2026 season was his whole career in one year.

He opened with the worst stretch of his life. He was hitting .159 with a .433 OPS when Don Mattingly benched him for two days in early May. Then he got hot, as he always seems to, and hit .274 with 14 homers, 73 RBIs and a .773 OPS from May 9 to the end of the season.

He finished at .249 with 15 homers, 29 doubles, 88 RBIs and a .698 OPS in 155 games.

To be fair to the guy, he drives in runs. He hit .347 with runners in scoring position and is one of only seven right-handed hitters to drive in at least 85 runs in three of the last four seasons. That’s real.

This team didn’t fall to 19th in runs scored because it had too much thump. A singles-hitting third baseman with limited defensive value is not what this lineup needs. Bryson Stott can handle third, and top prospect Aidan Miller is knocking on the door.

The Phillies have options… kind of, but it really doesn’t matter.

There might not even be baseball next year

Here’s the other thing hanging over all of this. The collective bargaining agreement expires December 1, and just about everyone in the sport expects the owners to lock out the players the moment it does.

The last lockout ran 99 days, from December 2021 to March 2022, and pushed back the start of the season. This one has the makings of something uglier, with the owners pushing for a salary cap and the union dead set against it. There’s a real chance some or all of 2027 is in jeopardy.

So the Phillies have one month to do serious business before everything could freeze. Which brings us to the guy they should be going all-in on.

Go get Teruaki Sato

The Hanshin Tigers officially posted Teruaki Sato on Sunday, and he’s the best bat on the market. He’s 27. He’s the reigning Central League MVP. He just won the Triple Crown, hitting around .300 with 39 home runs and 106 RBIs. Jon Heyman has already linked the Phillies to him, along with the Mets, Yankees and Dodgers.

Phillies sent scouts to Japan for Hanshin Tigers 3B Teruaki Sato >>

Posted players usually get 45 days to sign, but with the lockout coming, Sato and the rest of the posted class are expected to need a deal done by December 1.

Sato’s a third baseman, but there’s already buzz around the league about teams having him learn first base, the way the White Sox did with Munetaka Murakami. Put him there, figure out the rest of the infield around him and give this lineup the power bat it’s been missing.

For years, the Phillies have watched the Dodgers and everybody else scoop up the best talent coming out of Japan. This is the year to finally get in on it.

Other roster moves

The Phillies also trimmed the 40-man roster Monday. The Giants claimed infielders Brett Harris and Shay Whitcomb off waivers, and catcher Garrett Stubbs elected free agency.

Right-handers Brad Keller and Caleb Kilian, infielder/outfielder Felix Reyes and outfielder Johan Rojas were reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Lockout or not, Alec Bohm’s run in Philadelphia is ending, and it should. He had his moments, and the RBIs were real, but the Phillies need more than a streaky contact hitter at a corner spot.

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