Trea Turner managed a single in his first at-bat of Thursday’s loss to the Mets, but he finished 1-for-4 and saw his on-base percentage drop to a lowly .279 in what has been a disastrous debut season with the Phillies up to this point.
Of course, two-plus months of an 11-year contract adds up to a fraction of what the Phils paid for, and the former MVP candidate has plenty of time to turn things around.
But for Joe Giglio, that time has run out, at least from a standpoint of assessing the contract Turner signed in the offseason. Joe says, if he were able, he would take back that contract and use the money to address needs elsewhere on the roster.
“I don’t have a magic wand, but I’m gonna pretend I did,” Joe said. “I’ve gotten to the point watching Trea Turner where I’ve watched him every game he’s played here, and we know he’s had a fantastic career before he put on a Phillies uniform, and why he was paid $300 million.
“I’m watching a player who is in his age 30 season, who we knew, as soon as he signed that contract, that the back end of that contract would be ugly. You’re like ‘OK, let’s hope we get five or six great years and deal with the rest.’ Well, the first year has been ugly.”
It isn’t just because of Turner’s struggles, though they have been staggering. The Phillies’ collective issues have shown that the team needs help in other areas, and using money on those problems instead of making a big splash for Turner may have been the wiser move.
“The Phillies have no pitching, they have very little depth, and they need to be carried by stars to make it work with the way they constructed their payroll,” Joe said. “If I had a magic wand and could undo this contract, I would do it. When the contract first happened, I didn’t love it. I was like, ‘Eleven years for a 30-year-old shortstop? This is gonna end poorly.’ I’m at the point after watching this guy for the first two months of the season…if I had the ability, I would undo the contract, and would give the Phillies the ability to spend the $300 million elsewhere.”
Hugh Douglas wasn’t quite ready to take that route, still believing Turner is due to break out soon and show his worth.
“I’m not ready to give up on Trea Turner,” Hugh said. “When you look at guys who come to new teams, they normally get off to a slow start...if it wasn’t for last year, for the Phillies going to the World Series, Bryce Harper was kind of trending in that same direction. He’s playing better now, but he had a rough patch when he first got here to Philadelphia.”