The Phillies did Alec Bohm a bit of a favor today. By not giving Bohm a qualifying offer (QO), which would have been $$23.150 million, a team that signs him will not lose a draft pick as compensation to the Phillies. Because the Phillies were over the luxury tax, the pick would not have been a high pick, but it would have been a consideration for some teams. None of the other Phillies free agents were even a consideration to receive a qualifying offer.

Had the Phillies made a QO to Bohm, he could have accepted and had a one-year, $23.150-million deal with the Phillies or declined it and continued on with his quest as a free agent, including the option of returning to the Phillies, but not necessarily at the value of the QO.

Through the 2025 offseason, 157 players had received a QO, and only 18 accepted. Four of those 18 came last winter, a record for one offseason.

The QO deadline and the opening of the free agent market are the same moment. For the first five days after the World Series, clubs can talk with free agents from other teams but cannot sign them. Players can still re-sign with their own club during that stretch.

Milwaukee finished off Tampa Bay on October 28, and eligible players became free agents the following day. Monday was the deadline for qualifying offers, and at 5 p.m. ET free agents could begin signing with other teams.

The timing matters because the Phillies had to decide before any real market had formed for Bohm.

The Phillies and the qualifying offer

The Phillies have made five qualifying offers since the system began in 2012.

Jeremy Hellickson is the closest thing to a cautionary tale, and the only Phillie to accept. After a 3.71 ERA over 32 starts in 2016, he took the $17.2 million offer, saying other clubs’ reluctance to give up a draft pick played a part. He had a 4.73 ERA when the last-place Phillies traded him to Baltimore in 2017.

J.T. Realmuto went the other way. He turned down $18.9 million after the 2020 season and came back on a five-year, $115.5 million contract. Aaron Nola followed the same path, declining $20.325 million after 2023 and re-signing for seven years and $172 million.

Last winter brought two more offers. Kyle Schwarber rejected $23.150 million and returned for five years and $150 million. Ranger Suárez also said no and signed with Boston for five years and $130 million.

The Suárez case shows how modest the reward is. Boston lost its second- and fifth-highest picks plus $1 million in international bonus money, but the Phillies received only the 135th pick, slotted at $558,400. They used it on Kentucky right-hander Jaxon Jelkin.

Realmuto, Nola, Schwarber and Suárez were all sure bets to reject the offer because they had bigger deals waiting. Bohm’s situation looks more like Hellickson’s.

Should the Phillies have made the offer?

The strongest argument was flexibility. A one-year deal would have kept a dependable right-handed run producer without tying up third base for three or four years, a position that could eventually belong to Aidan Miller. Miller missed nearly all of 2026 with a back injury, so Bohm would also serve as insurance if the club’s top prospect isn’t ready for the big leagues.

Bohm’s production is real, too. He hit .249 with 15 homers, 88 RBIs and a .698 OPS in 155 games, and he was hitting just .159 with a .433 OPS through May 6. From May 9 on, he hit .274 with 14 homers, 73 RBIs and a .773 OPS.

He also hit .347 with runners in scoring position, which ranked seventh among qualified big league hitters, and he drove in at least 85 runs in three of the last four seasons. Dave Dombrowski acknowledged the point at his end-of-season press conference, saying “those 90 runs he drives in every year will be missed” if Bohm leaves.

The alternatives aren’t obvious either. The third base market is thin, and the Phillies could lose out if a club offers Bohm a multiyear deal they don’t want to match. Bohm also wants to stay, having said after the Wild Card Series that he would love to come back.

The price would have been the problem, because this is an offer Bohm may well have accepted. Spotrac projects him at about three years and $37-million, or $12.6-million a year, and other estimates run between $13- and $16- million annually. A QO would have paid him well above that and would have more than doubled his $10.2 million 2025 salary.

The Phillies may be able to bring him back for less by negotiating a normal contract. On the other side, Bohm’s decision isn’t automatic. A three-year deal would guarantee more total money, while the QO would pay more in 2027 and send him back to the market next winter with no QO attached.

The money would have limited what the Phillies could do elsewhere. The Phillies finished 22nd in the majors in OPS, and Bohm has never hit more than 20 homers in a season. Even if he returns, they would still need a right-handed bat with more power. A team already over the luxury tax line would be spending $22-million without solving that problem.

Defense is another concern. Statcast had him at minus-8 Outs Above Average at third base and minus-3 at first. With Dombrowski committed to Bryce Harper at first, Bohm would have to return as the third baseman. Bryson Stott has shown he can handle third, and the club has also scouted Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato.

If Bohm had been given a QO and accepted, the Phillies wouldn’t have been able to easily change course. A player who takes the QO can’t be traded before June 15 without his permission.

There is also the matter of a fresh start. Jim Salisbury of The Phillies Show podcast has argued that this roster needs new faces and that Bohm’s free agency is the easiest way to get them.

How other players getting a QO affects the Phillies

Eight players were offered a qualifying offer by their 2026 team. Those players – Randy Arozarena (Seattle), Jake Bauers (Milwaukee), David Bednar (NY Yankees), Ryan Jeffers (Minnesota), Brandon Lowe (Pittsburgh), Adrian Morejon (San Diego), Trevor Rogers (Baltimore), and Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs) – now have until November 17 to accept or reject the offer from those teams.

It affects the Phillies because they are believed to have interest in signing Arozarena. If the Phillies were to sign Arozarena they would forfeit $1-million in international signing money and would also lose their second and fifth highest draft picks.

The bottom line

In the end, this really was just about whether Bohm was worth the $23.15 million for one year.

The difference between Bohm and the Phillies’ recent QO recipients – Realmuto, Nola, Schwarber and Suárez – is that all of those players were always going to decline, while Bohm might have accepted the offer. Knowing that those players would reject the offer the Phillies would get a draft pick that they could roll the dice on. The one-year term would have protected the club’s long-term flexibility, but the Phillies would have been paying well above market price and limiting their options for 2027.