Once the Twins traded Jhoan Durán to the Philadelphia Phillies one day before the trade deadline, it all but assured a fire sale was about to take place. The Louis Varland, Carlos Correa and Brock Stewart deals were a bit of a surprise, but it wasn't shocking that all of the players on the Twins' 26-man roster with one year remaining on their contracts (besides Christian Vázquez) ended up getting traded; Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Ty France, Chris Paddack and Danny Coulombe are all now on different teams.
When examining the players on expiring contracts whom the Twins traded this summer, Castro, Paddack and Coulombe have struggled with their new teams thus far. Meanwhile, France has looked great with the Blue Jays, and Bader has provided the Phillies, who hold a six-game lead for first place in the National League East over the New York Mets, with more value than expected.
Checking in on former Twins outfielder part of trade deadline fire sale, Harrison Bader, who is raking with Philadelphia Phillies
While Bader, 31, mainly played left field with the Twins due to Byron Buxton, he has exclusively played center field with the Phillies. He has one out above average in his short time with the Phillies, adding to his total of six (93rd percentile) on the season.
Now, let's talk about Bader's offense. When the Twins signed Bader to a one-year deal worth $6.25MM this past offseason, the expectations were that he would be a serviceable fourth outfielder who could play every once in a while and slot in at center field in case Buxton got injured. However, Bader impressed with his bat and defense to the point where manager Rocco Baldelli had to start putting the former Cardinals outfielder on the field on a somewhat regular basis.
In his short time as a Twin, Bader hit .258/.339/.439 for a 117 wRC+ with 12 homers in 307 plate appearances, which is far better than the Twins likely imagined upon signing him. The highest wRC+ Bader has posted in a season (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign) was 108 over 103 games with the Cardinals in 2021.
Bader hasn't slowed down offensively since joining the Phillies. In fact, he has brought his offense to the next level, slashing .296/.378/.465 with two home runs and four doubles in 82 plate appearances.
YOU BADER BELIEVE IT! pic.twitter.com/OM0mPCUB5N
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 27, 2025
Bader hasn't been an everyday player for the Phillies, but has recently seen an uptick in playing time and is likely to continue playing more often if he remains one of the best defenders in the league and continues to hit at an elite level.
Bader has a mutual option for next season worth $10MM. He will most likely not return to the Phillies on his option for next season, as mutual options are rarely exercised and Bader’s buyout is just $1.5MM (but could increase based on his number of plate appearances). The Phillies might consider exercising the option, but Bader likely has the opportunity to make more money on the free agent market. If Bader becomes a free agent, he will undoubtedly receive a contract worth more than the one he agreed to with the Twins this past offseason, since he has already been worth more fWAR this season (2.8) than he has each of the past three seasons.