The Philadelphia Phillies have a huge problem in the form of Trea Turner.
Back in December 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies signed shortstop Trea Turner to an 11-year, $300 million contract, a deal that runs all the way through 2033.
Given that Turner was coming off of back-to-back All-Star campaigns at the time, the deal made perfect sense.
However, it hasn't taken long for it to turn into a nightmare.
After a pedestrian debut with the Phillies in 2023, Turner bounced back with two strong seasons. That included winning an NL batting title after hitting .304 last year.
But this season, Turner has been a weight and has been doing more damage to Philadelphia than he has to opponents.
Turner went 0-for-4 for the third straight game during the Phillies' loss to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night and is two for his last 21 overall. During the month of August, he is slashing .209/.281/.291 with just one home run.
The 33-year-old has been nothing short of an abject disaster this summer, and on the season overall, he is slashing .241/.294/.384. His .678 OPS is, by far, the lowest of his big-league career (removing 27 games from his debut in 2015), and it's significantly below his lifetime mark of .814.
What's more, Turner has been beyond horrific in the field, owning a minus-15 DRS and minus-8 OAA at shortstop in 2026. Those are numbers that would make CJ Abrams blush.
Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner. Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.The result? A 0.8 WAR, which is actually more than you would expect given Turner's deficiencies at both the plate and in the field. But for a player making $27.3 million a year, it is completely unacceptable.
Make no mistake: Philadelphia is stuck with Turner, who is clearly on a steep decline. There was talk the Phillies could move Turner to the outfield when they acquired Luis Arraez, which would have merely shifted Bryson Stott over to shortstop instead of rearranging the entire infield and sending Bryce Harper back to right field.
But Philadelphia opted against it, likely because Turner's only outfield experience came in the form of some brief center field action during his first full season with the Washington Nationals back in 2016.
The Phillies will simply have to deal with the fact that Turner is a part of their roster for the foreseeable future. Perhaps they try putting him at one of the corner outfield spots next year to clear room for Aidan Miller (who hasn't played at all in 2026) or to move Stott over to shortstop (if they keep Arraez).
Or maybe Philadelphia desperately tries to dump Turner, which would obviously require eating a significant portion of his salary. Yes, the Texas Rangers were able to dupe the New York Mets into taking Marcus Semien ... but that's the Mets, and Semien only had three years remaining on his contract at the time.
The Phillies will likely be in the playoffs this October, but it's no thanks to Turner, who has been a weight on the club's progress this season.
Maybe he'll be able to turn it around in 2027, but are we to believe that he is going to rediscover the fountain of youth in his age-34 campaign?
Philadelphia has handed out several long-term contract that it would certainly like to have back, and while Aaron Nola's might be the worst, Turner's is not far behind.
