Alec Bohm’s name was running wild in trade rumors all offseason, but as the third baseman explains, he’s ready to focus on this season as a Philadelphia Phillie.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Just about every day at the gym this offseason, someone would ask Alec Bohm for the scoop. Was he getting traded? If so, where?
"Every day … this, that, or the other. I just said I didn't know," Bohm said Thursday morning.
"As much as everybody was asking me stuff, I was pretty checked out of it all. It's just part of what we do. … There were points where I guess I didn't know what was gonna happen. I didn't really read into it too much, I didn't really try to find the answer. Whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen."
Bohm is still a Phillie. A winter of trade rumors didn't result in the Phillies moving on from their 28-year-old, homegrown, All-Star third baseman. They were not itching to deal him but Bohm has value. The Phillies considered altering their roster after an early playoff exit and he was viewed as a player who could bring something meaningful back in a trade. The right offer never materialized, and it had to be the right offer because Bohm is a middle-of-the-order bat who's driven in 97 runs two years in a row and hit .312 for his career with runners in scoring position.
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"I feel like I'm appreciated by everybody in here, so whatever circulates around, I'm not too concerned about," Bohm said at his locker in the corner of the Phillies' clubhouse at BayCare Ballpark.
"If I were to be really focused on all that stuff, I guess I could but I'm not out there reading rankings lists and doing all that stuff. It's not what I'm focused on."
Bohm, who spends the offseason in Houston, did not want to be traded. In early December, manager Rob Thomson called him to ease his mind. The third baseman appreciated it.
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"Obviously, any given time, anything in this game can happen," Bohm said. "But at the same time, I love being here and I don't want to go anywhere else really. It's just part of the business side of things."
The business side of things Bohm is referring to is his eventual free agency. The Phillies have him under team control this season and next before he is set to hit the open market after 2026. They also have a 20-year-old top prospect in Aidan Miller, who will remain at shortstop for now but could find himself on the left side of the Phillies' infield within the next few years.
That decision will come down the road. Bohm has already proven himself as a hitter who can be slotted anywhere from second through sixth. He’ll probably hit third or fourth this season. He had a tremendous first half a year ago, hitting .295/.348/.482 with 33 doubles, 11 home runs and 70 RBI in 91 games. He tailed off dramatically in the second half, hitting .251/.299/.382 with 11 doubles, four homers and 27 RBI in 49 games.
The slump culminated in his benching in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Mets. One of the team's most important hitters was out of the lineup when it needed offense most, but at that point, Thomson felt better about Edmundo Sosa and a potential infusion of energy than Bohm against a left-handed starter.
"We all wish the result was different but I think, for me, it was just that I didn't hit," Bohm said. "Do we know the answer? I don't know. The game's hard. Sometimes you struggle. I struggled at the wrong time."
There actually was a pretty obvious answer. Bohm suffered a left hand strain in late August and missed just over two weeks. He came back on Sept. 15 but other than one four-hit, four-RBI game on Sept. 20, he went just 4-for-42. He didn't struggle solely because of the hand, but he might not have returned so soon if the playoffs weren't approaching.
"When I started hitting again in the offseason, I realized that it hurt worse than I thought it had hurt," he said. "But I was out there playing, so I feel like if I'm out there playing, it's not like I can't do anything. At the same time, I'm sure a stronger left hand would have helped somewhere maybe. But it is what it is. Everybody's banged up, we play 162 games, guys are banged up. It is what it is."
Poor body language was likely another factor in Bohm's playoff benching. He's tended to show emotion when struggling over the years and the Phillies don't want their opponent to see. They don't mind the passion, they'd just rather he show it off-camera.
"I've been known to do some wrong things at the wrong time, I guess," he acknowledged. "It's just part of growing up, being a better player, teammate. I think it's going to be hard to find a way to care less. So, grow up a little, I guess."
The end of 2024 and beginning of 2025 weren't Bohm's first experiences facing the music. He committed three errors in the first three innings of a home game against the Mets in April 2022, and as boos rained down at Citizens Bank Park, he was shown in the field saying, "I (bleeping) hate this place." It could have been a moment that broke him.
Instead, he participated in a late rally, admitted after the game that he said it, and apologized. He wasn't defensive. He handled it in stand-up fashion and the fanbase almost universally appreciated and accepted it. That night is viewed by many as the point when his career turned. Bohm, who works constantly with infield coach Bobby Dickerson, improved vastly on defense and went from almost unplayable to close to league average.
"I definitely feel like I've experienced a lot in my short time here, but I think it's all for the better," Bohm said. "It hardens you a little bit, keeps your head screwed on straight, I guess."
