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Is Philadelphia Phillies Shortstop Turner Actually Worth $300 Million?
Coming off the Philadelphia Phillies’ surprise run to the 2022 World Series, the organization entered the offseason knowing there were still holes on the roster to fill after losing the World Series to the Houston Astros in six games.
The front office made a significant splash signing arguably the gem of the 2022 free agency class - Trea Turner. They pried him away from the Los Angeles Dodgers with an 11-year, $300 million contract.
For starters, it’s hard for any player to live up to a $300 million contract. It’s even more difficult when that contract finishes during the player’s age-40 season.
However, Phillies fans were ecstatic to sign another big name free agent. Turner then put together a red hot World Baseball Classic performance for Team USA right before the 2023 MLB season started.
In six WBC games, he hit .391 with five home runs and 11 RBI.
His WBC form has not translated to his time with the Phillies thus far.
Currently, the shortstop is hitting .246/.302/.382 with eight home runs and 29 RBI through 77 games. That is down from his career average of .297. Turner is experiencing a 32-percent drop in his career production at the plate.
So, it begs the question, is Turner worth his $300 million contract?
Right now, it’s hard to say yes. But taking into account the defensive stability Turner has brought to the middle of the infield, there’s a chance he could be.
He took over the shortstop position from Bryson Stott, who moved back to his natural second base position this season. At second base, Stott has a higher fielding percentage this season than last year at shortstop.
77 games is too early to make a definitive statement about a player.
If Turner’s batting numbers trend towards his career averages, he’ll be a top player on both offense and defense for Philadelphia.
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