After an offseason of trade rumors, Alec Bohm is happy to remain a Phillie: ‘I don’t want to go anywhere’

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Alec Bohm spent the offseason living in Houston, where the future of an All-Star third baseman with the initials “AB” was a popular topic of conversation.

Free agent Alex Bregman, right?

Uh, try again.

“It was someone different in the gym every day asking me this, that, or the other,” Bohm said Thursday. “It was just, ‘I don’t know.’”

» READ MORE: The Dodgers and Mets have the spotlight, but the Phillies remain confident thanks to their starting pitching

Welcome to life as a human trade rumor. For weeks, after the divisional-round loss to the Mets, the Phillies explored potential trades, some involving Bohm, as a way to change a lineup that went icy cold for a second year in a row in the postseason. It was part of Dave Dombrowski’s “open-minded” approach to the roster, and it was hardly a secret.

But a funny thing happened on Bohm’s surefire way out of town. The Phillies didn’t find a swap that would bring back what they deemed to be an equal return.

So here was Bohm, wearing a Phillies-issued red cap and blue shirt and taking batting practice with teammate and close friend Brandon Marsh at BayCare Ballpark on the second full day of spring training.

Awkward? Only if Bohm wants it to be. And in his first interview since the rumor mill began churning, the 28-year-old hit all the right notes.

How was your offseason, Alec?

“Pretty quick. Didn’t really do a whole lot. Just gym, home. Same as usual.“

But what about all of those trade rumors?

“Yeah, that’s not really anything I can control, so I didn’t really pay too much attention to any of it. I know it’s just part of what we do. So, as much as everybody was asking me stuff and all that, I was pretty checked out of it all.”

Nothing to see here, then? Well, maybe not quite.

» READ MORE: Nine questions for the Phillies as spring training opens: Welcome, Bohm, future of stars, and more

Bohm isn’t a cyborg, so he did admit that he appreciated hearing from manager Rob Thomson in December. After benching Bohm for Game 2 against the Mets, the low point in a series in which he went 1-for-13, Thomson reached out during baseball’s winter meetings — the height of rumor season — to reassure him that the Phillies still want him.

And they should. Bohm has driven in 97 runs in back-to-back seasons and makes contact as much as anyone in a lineup that’s prone to swings and misses. He’s the team’s best right-handed protection for Bryce Harper in the middle of the lineup. Bohm also has turned into a serviceable defender at third base and can’t be a free agent until after the 2026 season.

Still, Bohm said a phone call from Thomson “was good to kind of ease my mind” about where he stands in the organization.

“I mean, sure, there were points like, ‘Oh, I guess I don’t know what’s going to happen,’” Bohm said. “But I didn’t really [think about] it too much. I didn’t try to find the answer, you know? Whatever was going to happen was going to happen. I never felt like I was, per se, going to be traded and everything.

“At any given time, anything in this game can happen, right? But at the same time, I love being here and I don’t want to go anywhere else, really. So, it’s just part of the business side of things.”

» READ MORE: The ‘rehab mustache’ is gone as the Phillies’ Andrew Painter begins the next step in his return

It’s a mature approach to a potentially uncomfortable situation, and Thomson believes it’s authentic. He noted Bohm’s positivity. Infield coach Bobby Dickerson and first-base coach Paco Figueroa told Thomson that Bohm “seems like a different guy, like he’s grown up — again.”

Indeed, the Phillies have seen this before. After impressing as a rookie in 2020, Bohm struggled and got demoted to triple A in 2021. In 2022, he made a routine play after committing three errors in a game, received derisive cheers at Citizens Bank Park, and unforgettably got caught on camera telling a teammate, “I [bleeping] hate this place.”

» READ MORE: Are the Phillies better than last season? How they stack up in a loaded National League.

It was the sort of incident that doomed other Philadelphia athletes. But Bohm apologized and explained that it happened in the heat of an emotional moment. Then, he took hold of the third base job all the way through the Phillies' unexpected run to the 2022 World Series.

“I definitely feel like I’ve experienced a lot in my short time here,” Bohm said, smiling. “But I think it’s all for the better. I think it just hardens you a little bit and keeps your head screwed on straight.”

Speaking of which, all the trade speculation fueled another round of questions about Bohm’s emotional maturity.

Early in his career, a frustrating at-bat would often cause a lapse in concentration at third base; has has since learned to better compartmentalize the two sides of the game. Even so, he will frequently slam his helmet or spike his bat.

The Phillies were disappointed in Bohm’s handling of a late-season slump in which he finished in an 8-for-47 tailspin after missing two weeks with a bruised left hand. In deciding to bench Bohm for utility infielder Edmundo Sosa, Thomson cited Sosa’s “energy,” which was interpreted as a juxtaposition with Bohm’s hangdog manner.

Could Bohm be better about controlling his emotions?

“It’s going to be hard to find a way to care less,” he said.

But Bohm also conceded that he could let things out when he’s out of view of cameras.

» READ MORE: J.T. Realmuto or … who? The Phillies will face a complex decision with their star catcher.

“I’ve been known to do some wrong things at the wrong time,” he said. “But, no, it’s just part of growing up and just being a better player, teammate, all of that. Just grow up a little bit, I guess. I don’t know. Just be smarter.”

Bohm would also be well-served to channel any distraction from all those questions about a trade that didn’t happen into motivation to prove the Phillies shouldn’t have considered it in the first place.