Harrison Bader declines 2026 mutual option

Outfielder Harrison Bader has declined his end of a $10 million mutual option for 2026, the Phillies announced on Tuesday night. He’ll receive a $3 million buyout and become a free agent.

Acquired by the Phillies from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline, Bader was productive in his two months Philadelphia. He batted .305 with five home runs and an .824 OPS while playing excellent defense in center field.

2025 was his best season at the plate. Prior to this year, his last season with an OPS+ above 100 came in 2021 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team that signs him are buying into Bader improvements last season carrying over for the next two to three years.

“I think he’s made some adjustments prior to this year,” manager Rob Thomson said at the end-of-season press conference. “And that’s what gave him a little bit better of an offensive year. So I’m just banking on the fact that he continues to either maintain or even get better.”

At this end-of-year press conference in October, Dave Dombrowski listed Bader as a free agent the Phillies are prioritizing bringing back.

“We have others that are free agents, but those are really the four key guys for us,” Dombrowski said, referring to Bader, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Ranger Suárez. “So bringing them back, not bringing them back, we’d love to have them all if it worked out, but it’s probably impractical that we’re going to have all four of them back.”