Hours after the Phillies were bounced from the Wild Card round, the Bryce Harper trade chatter started to hum.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal floated the idea that Dave Dombrowski and John Middleton “need to kick around the idea” of dealing Harper - or Kyle Schwarber? - and named the Yankees, Red Sox and a long-shot Athletics as possible landing spots for the Las Vegas native. It’s all speculative, sure, but Harper’s no-trade clause and five years left on his contract make this a very particular kind of discussion. Any deal would need Harper’s approval, and probably an extension to grease the wheels.
If Philadelphia ever went there, the starting point has to be more than a future lottery ticket. Harper isn’t a salary dump.
He’s a franchise player with 392 career home runs, 1,956 hits, two NL MVP awards and an NLCS MVP for the homer that sent this Phillies team back to a World Series. He’s eight homers shy of 400 and 44 hits away from 2,000, with real shots at 500 homers and 2,500 hits before the deal runs out.
That’s why the Phillies, if they even answer the phone, should be asking for an established big leaguer first and prospects second.
The reason for even entertaining this is pretty clear. Philadelphia would still be trying to win now, with a bullpen that let them down in October, an aging core, and batting champion Luis Arraez headed to free agency.
Moving Harper would be a reset of sorts, aimed at a younger, more dynamic roster and a different clubhouse feel. But if that’s the path, the return has to help right away.
Boston may be the cleanest fit. The name that makes the most sense is Ceddanne Rafaela, a 26-year-old first-time All-Star and 2025 Gold Glove center fielder who hit .283 with 16 home runs, 70 RBI and 17 steals this season.
He’s under contract through 2031 on an eight-year, $50 million deal, with a 2032 club option. That gives Philadelphia an everyday player with MLB production, upside and cost control.
To really get Dombrowski to bite, Boston likely has to add Franklin Arias, its 20-year-old top prospect who is close to big-league ready, and maybe Tanner Houck, a buy-low arm coming back from Tommy John surgery. If Rafaela is off the table, the fallback shifts to Wilyer Abreu, a two-time Gold Glove right fielder who hit 24 home runs this year, ahead of Jarren Duran, whose .627 OPS marked a step back from his 2024 and 2025 production.
Final trade: Harper to Boston for Ceddanne Rafaela, Franklin Arias, and Tanner Houck.
New York might be the other obvious fit, and Cody Bellinger is the headliner there. He’s a left-handed bat who hit 29 homers last year, won this season’s All-Star Game MVP, and can play first base or the outfield, which makes him a natural replacement for Harper’s lineup spot.
The complication is the money: Bellinger is owed $162.5 million through 2030, has a full no-trade clause, and can opt out after 2027 and 2028. He’d have to approve it too, though his shared agent with Harper, Scott Boras, could help make that happen.
Beyond Bellinger, the Yankees would need to sell Philadelphia on upside. Anthony Volpe and Jasson Domínguez are former top prospects who haven’t fully established themselves, so they’d be more change-of-scenery pieces than the centerpiece.
Will Warren would give the Phillies a controllable arm, and Dax Kilby, the 19-year-old shortstop and No. 2 prospect in the system, would be the extra piece that makes the package worthwhile.
Final trade: Harper to New York for Cody Bellinger, Anthony Volpe or Jasson Domínguez, plus Will Warren and Dax Kilby.
Then there’s the sentimental option: the Athletics, with Harper headed home to Las Vegas. The dream return would be Nick Kurtz or Jacob Wilson, but both are too important to the A’s long-term core to sound realistic here.
A more workable starting point is Zack Gelof, a right-handed infielder who brings power and speed, with 22 homers, 16 steals and a 116 OPS+ this year, including eight home runs in September. For bullpen help, Philadelphia could look at Elvis Alvarado, a 6-foot-6, 253-pound right-hander whose fastball gets above 102 mph and whose four-seamer’s called-strike-plus-whiff rate sits in the 88th percentile, even if the walks remain an issue.
The depth layer could include Jack Perkins, a swingman who can start or relieve and struck out 131 in 116 innings despite a 5.90 ERA, and/or Luis Morales, a recently debuted starter with front-of-the-rotation upside.
None of it moves without Harper waiving the no-trade clause and signing off on an extension. Boras would have to work the whole thing through with his client and convince both sides the deal makes sense.
But if Philadelphia really decides to move on from what Harper has built there, the return has to matter in 2027. On paper, at least, these three clubs have the kind of pieces to make that conversation interesting.
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