Trea Turner a Great Signing For Phillies
There are plenty of people who have questioned the Phillies giving shortstop Trea Turner an 11-year, $300 million contract that will take him into his age 40 season.
The reason the contract went so long was so the Phillies could have a lower figure for luxury tax purposes. Turner’s average annual value is ‘only’ $27.2 million per season.
According to spotrac.com, Turner is ‘only’ the 22nd highest-paid baseball player according to AAV. (Tied for No. 1 are NY Mets pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander at $43.3 million.
No matter how he fares toward the end of the contract, there is no doubt about the impact Turner will have at the beginning.
He turns 30 in June and remains among the fastest players in MLB. This year look for him to steal even more bases with the new rules being implemented, where a pitcher can only make two ‘disengagements’ per plate appearance.
A disengagement is either a pickoff attempt or a pitcher stepping off the rubber for any other reason.
Just look at what Turner has accomplished in his career. In 2019 he was a vital part of the Washington Nationals World Series championship team.
That season he hit .298 with 96 runs scored, 19 home runs, 57 RBI and led the National League with 43 stolen bases. He had a .850 OPS and a 117 OPS+.
In 2021, a season he began with Washington before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Turner was the National League batting leader (.328).
He is a two-time All-Star and this past year won his first Silver Slugger award, given to the top offensive player at each position.
A former first-round pick in 2014 by the San Diego Chargers out of North Carolina State, Turner has put up some impressive statistics in seven full MLB seasons.
He is a .302 career hitter with a .842 OPS and 122 OPS+. Turner has 230 career stolen bases with 124 home runs, 586 runs and 434 RBI. His career B-War is 29.7.
This past season for the Los Angeles Dodgers he hit .298 with 21 home runs and a career-best 100 RBI. He stole 27 bases and was only caught twice. Turner also appeared in 160 games and led the National League in both plate appearances (708) and at-bats (652).
Turner remains an above-average defender. He has played most of his career at shortstop, 701 games, but he has also played 91 games at second base and another 45 in center field.
With the Phillies he will be a shortstop, which was a major need. Last year’s shortstop, Bryson Stott will move to second base.
Turner will bat either leadoff or second. Either one he would be effective.
One reason to keep Kyle Schwarber at leadoff is to be able to alternate lefthanded and righthanded hitters through the top four, with Schwarber followed by Turner, Bryce Harper (once he returns) and JT Realmuto.
The Phillies announced after Harper’s Tommy John surgery on Nov. 23 that they expect the 2021 MVP to return by the All-Star game.
It will be important for the other Phillies to pick up the slack and Turner seems more than up to the challenge.
While he isn’t known as a power hitter, he has hit double-figure home runs in each of his seven full seasons.
Turner should provide the Phillies with a great spark to the offense and he has a chance to be one of the better free-agent signings in a class with plenty of high-profile players.
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Author: Marc Narducci
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