Phillies, SS Trea Turner reach 11-year, $300 million deal

SAN DIEGO — Shortcuts Trea Turner and Philadelphia agreed to an 11-year, $300 million deal on Monday, sources told ESPN, adding the fastest player in baseball to an already strong roster of champions. National Confederation.

29-year-old Turner’s active courtship by the Phillies accelerated as other teams, including Padres San Diego, stepped up in recent days. Philadelphia, the team that lost the World Series first Houston Astrostargeted Turner as the perfect addition to his already-inclusive lineup Citizens of Washington teammate Bryce HarperAll-Star Catcher JT Realmutoslowly man Kyle Schwarber and the first sentinel Rhys Hoskins.

The agreement, which includes a full sales ban and no late payment, ties Turner to the Phillies through the end of the 2033 season and is the 10th $300 million contract in baseball history. He’s the fourth shortcut to reach that threshold, along with New York Mets‘ Francisco LindorPadres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. and Texas Ranger‘ Corey Seager.

Combined with a two-year, $86.66 million contract awarded to right-handers Justin Verlander by the Phillies’ NL East Mets rivals the previous Monday, the baseball’s winter meetings, held in person for the first time since 2019, got off to a hectic start to their first day. . Despite the slow start to winter, teams have now spent more than $1 billion on free agents — and that’s with Judge Aaron, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Rodon, Brandon Nimmo and Dansby Swanson not signed yet.

Turner’s dynamic was on display in 2022, when he hit .298/.343/.466 with 21 home runs and 27 stolen facilities for Dodgers Los Angeleswho bought him on the trading deadline of 2021 with ace Scherzer max. It matches the production run throughout Turner’s career, in which he hit 0.302/.355/.487 with 124 home runs, 230 base steals, and 586 scores in 849 games.

No player in baseball matches Turner’s penchant for combining skill and sport. Lightly recruited after graduating from high school, he thrived as a freshman at NC State and finished 13th overall in the 2014 draft to San Diego. Less than six months later, Padres sent him to the National Team, where he tore the system, then locked into a starting role in 2016 on second base and center court.

He switched to his natural position, shortstop, in 2017 and has won multiple MVP votes over the past three seasons. At 6-foot-2 and 185-pound, Turner is the kind of tall, lithe athlete that teams dream of — especially a team like the Phillies, who will move the short track of rookies. Bryson Stott to the second facility and add another big-ticket free agent to their loaded list.

Under president Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies actively pursued freelance agents, and Turner’s $27.3 million-a-year contract would push their salaries to more than $200 million. While Turner, Harper, Realmuto, Schwarber, are right-handed Zack Wheeler and midfielder Nick Castellanos All set to rake in over $20 million this season, the kinds of young reinforcements that the best teams use to balance out big-ticket contracts could soon hit the big leagues.

Right-hander Andrew Painter, 19, placed in the first round of the 2021 draft, hit a Double-A in his first season and, according to reviewers, could be ready for tournaments big right after next season. Righty Mick Abel, who entered the first round of Philadelphia last season, also finished 2022 in Double-A. Both can eventually join a spin that includes Wheeler, Aaron Nola – who is a free agent after the 2023 season – and Ranger Suárez.

The Phillies could still strengthen their sales staff by penetrating deeper into the freelance market, but the winter has been deemed a success for Turner. He is expected to take the lead and lead a squad that will be without Harper at least for the first half of the season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery to repair a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right elbow.

Philadelphia will need all the help it can get in the fierce NL East, where the Mets and Atlanta Braves offers formidable foes for the division, each winning 101 games in 2022 while the Phillies record 87 wins. However, it was the Phillies that made it through the NL knockouts roughly, sweeping away Saint Louis Cardinal in the wild series, beating Atlanta in the division series and eliminating the Padres in the NL Championship Series.