Mets, Yankees Inquiring on Outfielder Harrison Bader

[Brock Beauchamp]

Jorge Castillo of ESPN has written that both New York teams are interested in acquiring Twins outfielder Harrison Bader, who has emerged as one of the most sought-after position players this deadline. In 93 games for the Twins, the 31-year-old right-hander is batting .254/.337/.439 with 12 homers and a .776 OPS. FanGraphs has him at a .340 weighted on-base average and a 118 wRC+, while his 2.0 wins above replacement rank among the top 30 major-league outfielders. Statcast credits Bader with +5 Outs Above Average, underscoring the defense that has defined his career. He has logged innings in left, center, and right this season. 

The Yankees are monitoring Bader closely as they seek a right-handed bat to stabilize their outfield after placing Aaron Judge on the injured list with a flexor strain on July 27. Manager Aaron Boone has patched together playing time for Trent Grisham and Oswaldo Cabrera. Still, the club lacks a true center fielder.

Across town, Mets president David Stearns is evaluating upgrades in the same spot. FanGraphs Depth Charts list Tyrone Taylor, Starling Marte, and prospect Jett Williams as the current center-field options, a trio that has combined for modest production. Bader is owed roughly $2 million for the remainder of a one-year, $6.25 million contract that carries only a mutual option for 2026. 

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[Road trip]

Interesting, as Bader spent most of 2023 and 24 with those two franchises... and he pretty much failed to hit well at either spot.  NY fans are not a patient bunch, and Yankee stadium will not be kind to his pull-happy tendencies.  Still, he'd be an upgrade for either squad.

[Brock Beauchamp]

8 minutes ago, Road trip said:

Interesting, as Bader spent most of 2023 and 24 with those two franchises... and he pretty much failed to hit well at either spot.  NY fans are not a patient bunch, and Yankee stadium will not be kind to his pull-happy tendencies.  Still, he'd be an upgrade for either squad.

I'm not as familiar with the Mets, but the Yankees are in a bad way right now. I think they're bordering on desperate, especially in the outfield.

[Vanimal46]

Sorry for being a one track mind here… But combine Bader with Coulombe to maximize the return for both players. Ideally the Twins receive a better prospect than what they will receive in 2 separate transactions. 

[TheLeviathan]

Rafael Flores from the Yankees is a guy I wouldn't mind walking away from this deadline with.

[mnfireman]

34 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Sorry for being a one track mind here… But combine Bader with Coulombe to maximize the return for both players. Ideally the Twins receive a better prospect than what they will receive in 2 separate transactions. 

Shouldn't both players be showcased so to speak against Boston, the competition, if the Yankees are interested?

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, mnfireman said:

Shouldn't both players be showcased so to speak against Boston, the competition, if the Yankees are interested?

I'd think any team trading for these guys has all the data they need at this point. I'd hope no GM is making these decisions based on two games. I could be wrong!

[jorgenswest]

2 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Sorry for being a one track mind here… But combine Bader with Coulombe to maximize the return for both players. Ideally the Twins receive a better prospect than what they will receive in 2 separate transactions. 

Absolutely agree. However they have to get the deals done. I assume they have targets within each organization. If they can get one of them for just Bader they need to pull the trigger. Holding out to try to get a better target may end in the trading partner looking elsewhere doing two smaller deals for a reliever and outfielder from separate clubs. The Twins can’t be left holding these assets. 

[SteveLV]

How about Bader, Coulombe and Correa to the Yankees?  They can afford the contracts, need a boost, and Correa is historically excellent in the playoffs.  They helped us out with Donaldson, would they do it again?

[SteveLV]

(The above assumes Correa would waive his no-trade clause to go to the Bronx.  Have no idea how he feels about that, but suspect at a minimum he would like to actually play in the playoffs.....)

[bunsen82]

Me preference would be the Twins wrap up a Bader or Castro deal today.  If we truly plan to trade one of the big 3, you don't want a ton of trades going all on at once and something falling through.  

[nicksaviking]

Wouldn't the Yankees trading for Harrison Bader be the equivalent to the Twins trading for Christian Vazquez at next year's trade deadline?

I can't even imagine how much these boards would be on fire if they did that!

[bunsen82]

5 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Wouldn't the Yankees trading for Harrison Bader be the equivalent to the Twins trading for Christian Vazquez at next year's trade deadline?

I can't even imagine how much these boards would be on fire if they did that!

Did you just compare a 2 War player to -.3 player and state they were the same?   Both would be depth pieces though.  If they can push you over the top great.  Just think of the braves a couple years ago, when they picked up Rosario and a couple other depth pieces.  They carried them to a WS.  

[nicksaviking]

12 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Did you just compare a 2 War player to -.3 player and state they were the same?   Both would be depth pieces though.  If they can push you over the top great.  Just think of the braves a couple years ago, when they picked up Rosario and a couple other depth pieces.  They carried them to a WS.  

I'm not comparing any WAR, it's a near pointless stat particularly in this case. The Yankees are looking for offensive help with Judge down, Bader's defense doesn't fill that void. It'd be like going car shopping and coming home with a jet ski instead.

So yes, this trade would be similar to if Christian Vazquez has a minor offensive bounce back the beginning of next season and then the Twins went and traded for him hoping his first time in MN was an aberration. 

[Jeff K]

19 hours ago, SteveLV said:

How about Bader, Coulombe and Correa to the Yankees?  They can afford the contracts, need a boost, and Correa is historically excellent in the playoffs.  They helped us out with Donaldson, would they do it again?

We better ask/beg nicely!

[USAFChief]

You can probably scratch the Yankees off the list. They got their RH hitting OFer.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/white-sox-trade-austin-slater-yankees.html

 

[twinfan]

The Yanks need pitching but keep obtaining hitters. Maybe their GM is worse than ours. Correa back to Houston could happen though I like the way he seems to be helping the young hitters. But he costs too much and maybe we can get a couple of good players for him if he's healthy. The Yanks don't want/need him. 

[twinstalker]

2 hours ago, USAFChief said:

You can probably scratch the Yankees off the list. They got their RH hitting OFer.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/white-sox-trade-austin-slater-yankees.html

 

I was just going to write this.  They gave up nothing, so that's what the Twins are fighting against.

[RpR]

Bader seems to influence teams he is on; before he was traded to the Phillys, Kepler looked like a mirror image of Wallner.

Bader and Kepler both play Left Field and in the 7 games since Bader showed, Kepler is batting.318 with 7 hits including a home run.

I have a feeling Kepler is one who doesn't perform till a manager tells him: Either you perform as expected , or you will be sitting on the bench.