RUMORS: Phillies predicted to trade Alec Bohm, replace him with $36 million Gold Glover

There’s a central question for the Philadelphia Phillies to answer this winter: Is third baseman Alec Bohm staying or going?

After making his first All-Star team, Bohm struggled mightily down the stretch and into the playoffs in his age-28 season. He was benched in Game 2 of the National League Division Series and has been the subject of rampant trade speculation all winter thus far.

Manager Rob Thomson has done his best recently to quell the rumors, saying publicly that the Phillies aren’t shopping the third baseman. But that could easily be posturing, and while they might not be shopping Bohm, they’ll certainly field any calls from other teams about him.

If the Phillies do move on from their former first-round pick, might a Gold Glover be sitting there in free agency who would be the perfect replacement?

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report predicted that the Phillies would trade Bohm at some point this winter, then replace him by signing utility infielder Ha Seong Kim, who has spent the last four seasons with the San Diego Padres after coming from the Korean Baseball Organization.

“The Phillies don’t have to trade Bohm… But you do wonder whether the toothpaste can be put back in the tube given how out there Bohm has been this winter,” Kelly said. “The Phillies aren’t going to get Logan Gilbert or George Kirby back for Bohm, but the guess here is they still will trade him.”

“If the Phillies do trade Bohm, they’ll have to turn around quickly and fill the vacancy. Unless they plan to go with some internal mix of Edmundo Sosa, Kody Clemens and Weston Wilson, Ha-Seong Kim would seem to check a lot of boxes for the Phillies.”

Kim, 29, might not have the offensive upside of Bohm, but he’s been far more valuable throughout his career in terms of WAR. He averages 4.6 bWAR per 162 games, much of which is defensive, and he also can play any infield position at a Gold Glove level.

According to The Athletic, Kim’s contract projection is two years, $36 million, which is tough to gauge because he likely won’t be ready to return from his labrum surgery by Opening Day. The Phillies aren’t worried about the early season, though–it’s all about October.

At this point, it really is all about Bohm. If the Phillies front office thinks they’re better off moving him, Kim makes perfect sense. If Bohm is given a reprieve, it’s on him to prove he can take his game to another level for his team to have a shot at a title.