According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, the Phillies have former Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner as their top priority this offseason. This lines up with reporting from Buster Olney and Jesse Rogers, both of ESPN, who each relay word from sources that assert the Phillies will sign one of the “Big Four” shortstops, which includes Turner as well as Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson.
The Phillies have been looking for a solution at shortstop for a few years now. They signed Didi Gregorius going into 2020, giving him a one-year deal. He performed well enough in the shortened season to stick around on a two-year deal, but that went south almost immediately. After he hit just .209/.270/.370 in 2021, there was some speculation that the Phillies would jump into last year’s big shortstop sweepstakes, featuring Correa, Corey Seager, Javier Baez, Trevor Story and Marcus Semien.
During Turner's 849 career games, he’s hit 124 home runs and stolen 230 bases. His career batting line is .302/.355/.487, leading to a wRC+ of 124. UZR doesn’t like his work at shortstop, but both DRS and OAA have him above average for his career.
Turner received and rejected a qualifying offer from the Dodgers, meaning any team that signs him will have to pay a cost beyond just the money. Morosi also mentions that the San Fransico Giants are involved in talks with Turner, but adds that they will likely want to see how the Aaron Judge situation plays out before pivoting to a shortstop pursuit. Turner’s also been connected in rumors to the Chicacgo Cubs and the Seattle Mariners, while there are other teams that would make speculative sense.
During the season, Turner mentioned that he would like to return to the East Coast to play baseball. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post back in July, "Folks think Turner prefers to go back to the East Coast. He certainly was upset to originally be traded to the Dodgers (though perhaps not as upset as Freddie Freeman seemed), but he is thriving on the field, and now back at shortstop after his half year at second base last year."
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