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Harrison Bader Thought There Was “a Really Good Chance” of Returning to Phillies
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Current San Francisco Giant Harrison Bader had more to say about the possibility of re-signing with the Phillies, this time on the Foul Territory show:
“I thought there was a really good chance of being back in Philadelphia. But – at the same time, I’ve been around for long enough and heard a lot enough (sic) stories from other players who have gone through similar situations, they’ve been with an organization for 6 or 7 years and it didn’t work out the way they wanted to. So I certainly also prepared myself for that in the off chance at the time that it wasn’t going to work out. But that’s what the game is, that’s what life is about. Life is about preparing for things and having them go a different direction. It’s about how you can pivot to keep the energy going in the right direction to still manage to be successful... As excited as I was to be in Philly and potentially be back, truly I think I went through a great learning lesson, and that was a great reminder that life constantly reminds us of these lessons.
Sounds like Bader was hoping for a multi-year offer from the Phillies after playing some of his best baseball over a brief period to end a contract year. He declined a $10 million mutual option and got a two-year deal from San Fran for a reported $20.5 million, so the same dollar amount essentially, but a second year taking him to age 33.
The Phillies gave $10 million to Adolis Garcia to play right field, a one-year deal with Nick Castellanos on the outs, and they’re giving Justin Crawford every opportunity to take the everyday center field job and run with it.
Maybe Bader goes on a heater this year and the Phils regret not bringing him back, or maybe he falls back to Earth as a sub-.700 OPS guy who gives you some defense and hustle in the outfield. Nobody knows, unless they are Nostradamus.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com