‘Phillies Extra’ offseason preview with Scott Franzke: Moving Trea Turner off SS, trade candidates, and more
To help put another short playoff run in perspective, Franzke joined The Inquirer’s baseball podcast to weigh in on many of the issues they face going into 2027.
For the third consecutive year, the Phillies’ playoff run ended in an eyeblink.
And now, once again, there are only questions.
Should the roster undergo massive change?
Who will manage the team in 2027?
Which position will Trea Turner play?
What can be done to fix the offense?
To help put it all in perspective, Scott Franzke joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. The team’s longtime radio play-by-play announcer weighed in on those issues and more. Here are a few excerpts from the wide-ranging conversation.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Q: Did the postgame vibe after the Game 3 loss to the Braves feel different to you compared to last year at Dodger Stadium or the year before at Citi Field in New York?
A: I think it did feel different. Obviously there’s some expiring contracts. How many times can you bang your head against the same wall before you have to do something different? I think they all recognized that. It doesn’t stop them from trying to do their jobs and perform. But I think they all knew that if something great didn’t happen, then something big would follow as a result, and that would be big changes. ... There’s a lot of questions on just how much change you can make. But I think it’s pretty obvious they need to make some changes.
Q: A lot of this hinges on Turner. If the Phillies move Turner off shortstop, maybe it opens the possibility of a trade for a shortstop like Jeremy Peña from the Astros, or the Angels’ Zach Neto, or even CJ Abrams from the Nationals. What’s your view of where Turner should play moving forward?
A: I think for most of the season he was the third-best defensive shortstop on the roster, right? I mean, [Bryson] Stott or [Edmundo] Sosa could have played that position probably better defensively. At least that’s the assumption. But if you’re going to move him off, then it becomes, well, what are you doing next? Are you moving him to second? Now what do you do with Stott? Does [Stott] go play third for a year until [top prospect] Aidan Miller is ready? Or does he go play short for a year until Aidan Miller or Bryan Rincon is ready? And do you think they are legitimate? Are they people you’re still planning on for the future?
Stott obviously has another year left [before free agency]. So, it seems like a pretty easy fit to slide him over and put him at shortstop and see if he turns around offensively and see whether or not you want to go into kind of a long-term [contract] situation with him. Something like that probably doesn’t happen until after the labor negotiations are done. It’s different maybe for the current crop of free agents like an Alec Bohm, but for guys who still have another year left, there may be a real wait-and-see on the part of both club and player to see what the landscape looks like.
» READ MORE: Hayes: Trea Turner is the Phillies’ biggest problem. He knows it: ‘A lot of that is on me.’
I do believe they need to move [Turner] off of short. I don’t necessarily think that all of a sudden he’s going to go play Gold Glove defense in the outfield. And if he doesn’t hit more than he did this year, what is it really worth? What’s the value there? Where can you find a left fielder that does more offensively? So, they’re pretty heavy questions, and the easiest way to resolve it is to somehow turn Trea Turner around and get him back to being the offensive player that he was. Because those guys you mentioned, a Neto or a Peña, they come with some downside, too, defensively. But they have a way bigger upside at least right now it seems offensively.
I’m not a guy who studies the free-agent market, so I don’t know everything that’s available. But yeah, I do think you have to make a change there. It’s short(stop). It’s just too important a spot defensively, especially with the pitching. The starting pitching you have playing behind him, you need really good defense.
Q: Alec Bohm was probably their best hitter down the stretch. But after they talked about trading him in back-to-back offseasons, it’s also difficult to see them bringing him back. Do you see a path for him to come back?
A: Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what he [will] demand on the open market. His ability to play first base, I think, improved his value quite a bit. I think he opened a lot of eyes playing there, and probably got him some dollars just by being able to do that and show that versatility. Because that’s baseball in 2026 and moving forward. It’s the versatility of players. It’s the versatility of pitchers to pitch in different roles: start, relieve, mid-relief, close relief. All the different areas of the game, and I really truly believe that ... having some versatility I think is important in today’s game.
» READ MORE: The big offseason questions facing the Phillies: Core’s future, fixing the bullpen, and who’s managing?
Now, there’s no need for [Bohm at] first base if you don’t plan to do the same with Bryce [Harper]. And Bryce seemed like, ‘Hey, I’ll play right field through the end of the season, but I plan to go back to first base.’ That’s the way it always sounded to me. So, I think he’s expecting to be back at first base. I think probably Dave Dombrowski is expecting him to be back at first base. So, it doesn’t necessarily leave that much room for Bohm. I think Alec has overcome so much, and he’s proven to be a valuable player. He drives in runs. Again, he’s not a stalwart defensively. He’s not going to hit 20 homers. It just hasn’t blossomed that way. So, I think it’s probably going to be a situation where they move on. But I can be surprised, I guess.
Q: Orion Kerkering and Brandon Marsh seem like logical change-of-scenery candidates, even though their trade value isn’t exactly high. Is that one way the Phillies could go to create some change?
A: I think that’s entirely possible. ... You wouldn’t be selling high on either of them. That’s pretty obvious. But I don’t have any doubt that there’s an organization out there that feels like they can get the most and make the most out of Orion Kerkering. ... I think we all assume it’s not going to happen in Philadelphia, and maybe that’s the wrong assumption. Because, again, he’s youngish, he’s cost-controllable, he does have some experience. He’s got warts, but maybe there’s something you can do to fix that. And that will come after the manager is chosen, the coaching staff is chosen. Whether it’s all the same guys or not, I don’t know. And if there’s a different group of pitching people in place, then maybe they would have their opinions on what to do with Orion Kerkering and they would maybe say, ‘No, don’t trade him. There’s too much to work with there. We can make it work.’ I don’t know. That’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility in my mind.
» READ MORE: Will Don Mattingly return? That’s ‘Dave’s decision,’ the first of many facing Dombrowski
I don’t know how much value you get back for them. But I don’t think at this stage of your franchise, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh, well, we’re not going to get maximum value right now compared to what we would have gotten four months ago, or six months ago, or two years ago.’ That’s water under the bridge. You have to work in the now, and you have to work with what you have, and they may be the ... assets that you can trade. And you may not get much in return. But again, you have to identify something in somebody else’s organization that’s worth going after.
Watch or listen to the entire interview for Franzke’s thoughts on the impact a potential new manager like Alex Cora could have, the development of Andrew Painter, and more.
Phillies Extra is your deep dive into all things Phillies on Gameday Central! Hosted by Scott Lauber, each episode brings you insider analysis, exclusive interviews with players and experts, reader emails, and more to cover the hottest topics with the Phillies and across Major League Baseball. Don’t miss it — the conversation starts here!
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