The Philadelphia Phillies are an afterthought in the Juan Soto chase. While Soto has plenty of connects on the Phillies thanks to his days with the Washington Nationals – namely Trea Turner and Kevin Long – there is little better reason for the 26-year-old to consider the City of Brotherly Love than Bryce Harper.

The favorites to land Soto are reportedly the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox, with the Toronto Blue Jays as a distant fourth. It’s not too late for the Phillies to get involved, but pulling Soto away from New York or Boston would be considered a major upset in the industry.

With that in mind, Dave Dombrowski’s focus should not just be on Soto, but rather the alternatives. The Phillies need outfield help, but unfortunately beyond Soto there are not a ton of options, as Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer pointed out. With the free-agent and trade options limited, would the Phillies consider moving Harper back to the outfield? Harper and Dombrowski sure hope that’s not the case.

“I don’t think I’ll move back out there,” Harper said in February. “I don’t. But never say never.”

“At this stage of his career, how he has adjusted to the position, that’s not a preference,” Dombrowski doubled down.

Case closed, right? Not so fast.

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While adding another outfielder might prove challenging, the first base market could be fruitful. Pete Alonso, Christian Walker and Paul Goldschmidt, among others, are all available – and for a far more affordable price tag than Soto.

Per Lauber, the Phillies are targeting outfielders with less swing-and-miss potential, as their current crop strikes out far too much. Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernandez, arguably the two best outfielders available not named Soto, have tremendous power but strike out too much for the Phillies liking.

The average outfielder’s OPS in MLB last season was .715. Harper had an OPS of near-.900. While he’s not the same defensive player he once was, assuming he can cut it at the corners, he has far more value there than first base.

The Phillies have options, and if they cannot trade for the likes of Luis Robert Jr. or sign Soto, then they can always fall back on Harper.