Phillies will keep Trea Turner at shortstop for now: ‘He knows he has to be better’
What if Turner doesn't improve? “We’ll have fallback opportunities,” Dave Dombrowski said, “and some of it may come back to young guys we have.”
Trea Turner flew into town this week for a face-to-face meeting with his boss. It lasted a couple of hours and led to the Phillies’ most important offseason decision.
Turner will stay at shortstop.
For now.
“We were very clear: He knows he has to be better at shortstop,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Thursday in an hourlong, end-of-season news conference. “I told him it’s really mandatory that he’s like that. If he plays shortstop like he did in ’25, he can play shortstop. But if he plays like he did in ’26, he can’t. He totally understands that.”
» READ MORE: The most imaginative changes the Phillies can make begin with moving Trea Turner off shortstop
Turner, who has seven seasons and $190.9 million left on an 11-year, $300 million contract, played the best defense of his career in 2025. But he regressed badly this season. He ranked 17 runs below average among shortstops, based on Sports Info Solutions’ defensive runs saved, the worst ranking in the majors.
The Phillies could’ve dictated to Turner that he move to second base or left field. Dombrowski outlined other changes, including a reduced workload for 35-year-old catcher J.T. Realmuto and “estimated” 30 games at first base for designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.
But after meeting with Turner, Dombrowski said the club intends to help the 33-year-old “show us he can do it” at shortstop in spring training.
And if he can’t?
“We’ll have fallback opportunities,” Dombrowski said, “and some of it may come back to young guys we have.”
Dombrowski mentioned two names: top prospect Aidan Miller and Bryan Rincon, who had a breakout season in double A. But the trade market could include a few veteran shortstops, including the Astros’ Jeremy Peña and the Angels’ Zach Neto.
So, while the Phillies plan to enter spring training with Turner at shortstop, Dombrowski left the door ajar.
“At this point,” he said. “But we’ll see.”
Step one for Turner: A new infield coach. The Phillies hired former Mets manager Carlos Mendoza this week to replace Bobby Dickerson, who developed a strong relationship with Turner over the last three years after not initially clicking with him in 2023.
But it’s clear that the onus will fall on Turner. That’s why Dombrowski asked him to return to Philadelphia for a meeting after going home to Florida once the Phillies got booted from the wild-card series on Oct. 1.
» READ MORE: Dave Dombrowski didn’t have an ‘elite’ season. And turning it around in 2027 won’t be easy.
The Phillies might’ve withstood Turner’s downturn on defense if he produced to his usual level at the plate. But the two-time batting champion and .291 career hitter batted .242 with a .297 on-base percentage and 81 OPS+ (league average is 100).
Turner is already working on his swing, according to Dombrowski.
“I told him kind of, ‘Slow down. You don’t have to do it that quickly. Make sure you get with some people,’” Dombrowski said. “A guy like Don Mattingly is a good person to get with, and they’ve already talked a little bit and will continue to do so.”
At least until Dec. 1, when the collective bargaining agreement expires, the owners lock out the players, and team officials are prohibited from contacting players. But until then ...
Mattingly, hired this week as the full-time manager after leading the team on an interim basis for most of the season, didn’t sit in on the meeting with Turner but said he got a “CliffsNotes” briefing from Dombrowski.
“It sounded like that conversation went for a while,” Mattingly said. “Trea really wants to stay on short, but he realizes that he needs to get better. I would say, in general, his season, he’s really disappointed in it. Offensively, it really wasn’t consistent; defensively, it wasn’t consistent. So, I’m sure he’s disappointed.”
Said Dombrowski: “He takes complete accountability on that.”
But Turner is also one year removed from a batting title and a fifth-place finish in the NL MVP voting. From an offensive standpoint, the Phillies have reason to believe he will bounce back.
Defensively, it might be a different story.
Dombrowski’s meeting with Turner set the groundwork for that possibility.
“I said, ‘OK, let’s go through the different scenarios if you’re not playing well at shortstop in spring training, things don’t work in that regard,’” Dombrowski said. “Now, we do have a couple of young players coming. Will they both be ready? I do not know that. I don’t know what other additions we may make this wintertime.
“But he is very willing, if he doesn’t play shortstop, to do what is best for the Philadelphia Phillies organization. So, that’s how we left it with him. He’s determined to show us that he can play [shortstop], and I said, ‘You have to show it.’ You cannot play shortstop like he did defensively in ’26 going into ’27.”
The Phillies haven't won a playoff series since 2023, and their postseasons keep getting shorter and shorter. How can they fix it? Radio play-by-play announcer Scott Franzke joins Phillies Extra, The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss Trea Turner's future, the managerial uncertainty, whether the Phillies can get "creative" to change the mix of the roster, and more. Watch here.
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