Tricky as it may be, a pivot to Bo Bichette would make sense for Phillies

The Phillies have been one of numerous teams connected throughout the offseason to infielder Bo Bichette, probably the second-best bat on the free-agent market after outfielder Kyle Tucker.

Despite complications with payroll, roster construction and timing, he’s worth the pursuit.

Bichette has played shortstop his entire seven-year career with the Blue Jays but his foot speed and range have slipped, making him a logical candidate to play second base or third base as he enters his 30s and perhaps even for his age-28 season in 2026.

The Phillies are interested because Bichette can be an offensive difference-maker. He rebounded from an injury-plagued, lackluster 2024 to hit .311 with an .840 OPS in 2025, both career-highs in a full season. The track record is obviously longer than just last season, as he’s a .294 career hitter and two-time American League hits leader.

Bichette is not a home run hitter but has the kind of offensive skill set every team could use in a run-producing spot. He’s a doubles machine who hits to all fields, just with more authority and consistency than Alec Bohm. He is a free swinger, though he’s also one of baseball’s best bad-ball hitters, eminently capable of singling between first and second base on a pitch off the plate away. That’s his trademark base-hit, actually. He’s had success in the postseason and been involved in plenty of high-pressure moments with the Blue Jays in playoff races four of the last six years.

The two big questions from a Phillies perspective are: How much money would it take, and can they find a meaningful return in a trade of either Bohm or Bryson Stott to fit Bichette onto their roster?

It’s tricky in both regards. Bichette, just 27 years old until March, could command more than $200 million over seven-plus seasons. The Phillies already have a sky-high payroll of approximately $301 million, and the harshest penalties apply to teams that are $60 million or more over MLB’s Competitive Balance Tax threshold of $244 million. Their next high-profile acquisition will push them over that limit as well.

Though the Phillies have a lucrative TV deal, draw a ton of fans to Citizens Bank Park and derive plenty of revenue through merchandise, parking and concessions, the money is not infinite. Their player payroll is the third-highest in the sport and doesn’t take into consideration the massive resources invested into all other areas of the organization. Despite all of that, however, the 2026 Phillies are clearly pot-committed and must fortify the roster as best as possible to avoid another early playoff collapse. The window, as we all know, is closing. Zack Wheeler might be the most impactful player on the roster and has two years left before likely hanging ’em up.

Bichette could be a player capable of extending the window by just a bit, but more importantly, he’d make the offense better right now. And given the fact that J.T. Realmuto is still unsigned, the Phillies must have contingency plans in place if they lose such an integral piece of their puzzle. If they do lose Realmuto’s defense, game-planning, leadership and well-rounded skill set behind the plate, they’d need to make up for it in other areas. Bichette is a better hitter than Realmuto, which would offset some of that potential loss.

Then there’s the Bohm-Stott component, plus the presence of infield prospect Aidan Miller, the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2023 who might be an everyday player by 2027. The timing of all of this is intricate.

Bohm is a free agent after the season and does not have big trade value. Unfortunately for the Phillies, any sort of trade market for Bohm is unlikely to develop until one or both of Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez sign. And it’s not as if Bichette, Realmuto or other top free agents will wait on the Phillies to figure out their situation with Bohm before making their own decision.

So, what if signing Bichette means also having to sell low on Bohm or Stott and receiving an insignificant return? Would that be enough of a reason not to pursue Bichette? If Bohm could be flipped for a solid setup man, for example, well then the whole situation would sound more palatable — you’d have the chance to sign a top offensive free agent while bolstering the roster at another position of need. But who knows whether that offer materializes? It didn’t the past two winters. Stott may have more value than Bohm because he’s a year farther away from free agency and is a plus defender at an important position.

This is a very unusual offseason for the Phillies. At times, it has seemed like they might again bring back the vast majority of a very good roster that fell short even when most of it was at its peak together. Yet there is also the possibility that massive changes occur. If another team woos Realmuto and the Phillies pivot to sign Bichette, that’s pretty massive change.

There are so many balls in the air at once, so many phone conversations being had by Dave Dombrowski and Preston Mattingly to figure out plans of action if Realmuto returns, if Realmuto doesn’t return, whether Bichette is a realistically attainable free agent and whether homegrown pieces in Bohm or Stott could generate enough interest to help the front office through this delicate dance.