This Brewers-Phillies trade package could bring All-Star slugger to Milwaukee

As each day passes this offseason, it becomes more and more clear that the chances of Willy Adames returning to the Milwaukee Brewers are basically zero. Adames' free agent market is one of the hottest of the offseason so far and given the lack of available quality shortstops, it isn't too farfetched that he could land a deal approaching $200 million. Even though both sides seem interested in a reunion, Adames value vs. the Brewers' spending habits just don't match up.

This leaves the Brewers with the task of how to replace Adames and his impressive production. Sliding Joey Ortiz over to shortstop remains extremely likely as part of the solution, but that leaves a void at third base to address. One solution to that problem that presented itself recently for the Brewers was the surprise availability of Alec Bohm on the trade market.

On the surface, Bohm appears to be the perfect trade candidate for Milwaukee. He is a productive third baseman who averaged a .772 OPS the last two seasons who may have worn his welcome out in Philadelphia and who also would come with two years of team control. As to what the Brewers would have to give up to land Bohm, that is a tad more complicated.

The Brewers should be involved in Alec Bohm trade talks, but only at a fair price

Bohm's actual trade value is a bit difficult to pin down at the moment. Bohm's numbers the last couple of years have been good, but not great, and with the drop-off in his production in the second half of 2024 combined with his reported maturity issues, he shouldn't going to command a crazy premium. However, Bohm is still arbitration eligible and his postseason experience along with his offensive upside still makes him an attractive trade target.

Our own Dave Gaspar astutely pointed out when Bohm's availability became known that this could be a potential option for a Devin Williams trade as Philly is in the market for help for the backend of their bullpen. However, Dave was also correct that Bohm coming with an extra year of team control over Williams creates a potential value disparity with a one-for-one trade, so where does that put us?

Given that Bohm is going to be a bit pricey in arbitration which raises some questions as to how long Milwaukee would actually keep him and he comes with some character questions, the Brewers should avoid including any of their better prospects along with Williams in a potential trade. However, a quantity over quality trade could do the trick. Picking two of Brock Wilken, Bishop Letson, and/or Brett Wichrowski would give the Phillies some upside to work with in addition to Williams without completely mortgaging Milwaukee's future.

Would that be enough to convince the Phillies? Potentially. They really could use a guy like Williams in their bullpen and while Bohm is a very valuable trade asset, making Bohm so publicly available doesn't help Philly from a leverage perspective. This might be the best deal for them especially when it comes to helping them during their current competitive window.

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