Trea Turner
Finally, we have the biggest one of them all in star shortstop Trea Turner. When Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski emphasized the importance of needing star players to win championships in recent years, he led by example when he went out to get Turner during the 2022-2023 offseason.
Dombrowski was certainly successful in doing so, handing Turner a gigantic 11-year, $300 million contract to play in Philadelphia for more than a decade. The total salary amount was second on the team only to Bryce Harper, and the AAV of $27,272,727 was also second only to Zack Wheeler.
With a huge investment like that, the Phillies expected big things from the 29-year-old superstar at the time. After all, Turner was a two-time All-Star (now three-time), a Silver Slugger winner, along with finishing runner-up for the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2016 and in the top 10 of NL MVP voting twice. More importantly, he could bring the invaluable experience from his successful World Series run with the Washington Nationals in 2019 to the Phillies to help them develop that winning mentality.
Turner has done his part so far, as his overall numbers with Philadelphia have been solid to date. In 276 games, he has amassed a .279 batting average and .791 OPS, with 190 runs scored, 60 doubles, 47 home runs, 138 RBI and 49 stolen bases over his two seasons with the club.
However, there are two main concerns with his massive contract. For one, it is just way, way too long, as it lasts all the way to his age 40 season. With the aggressive style of game that Turner plays, it will surely not age well towards the latter part of the deal. Added to the fact that it also includes a full no-trade clause and no opt-outs means the Phillies have little control of getting out of it if things don’t end up working well.
Another concern is the fact that Turner has been streaky in each of his first two seasons with the Phillies. In his first year, he had an underwhelming first half before turning it on during the latter half of the season. In 2024, the opposite occurred as Turner started off strong, but ended up struggling offensively down the stretch.
As one of the highest-paid players on the team, it would be much more reassuring if his production could be more consistent in contributing to the team’s success. Otherwise, such inconsistencies could ultimately limit the explosiveness of the Phillies lineup, seeing that he hits in the prime top third of the batting order.
Turner has the possibility of becoming an albatross both in the lineup and for his contract in the long run. So being able to unload his salary sooner rather than later could do wonders for the Phillies in potentially freeing enough resources to make some game-changing moves for the future.
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