Phillies plan to keep Trea Turner at shortstop, hire ex-Mets manager as infield coach

When the 2027 MLB season begins, Trea Turner will again be at shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies. On Thursday, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Turner will open next season at shortstop, but will need to play well to remain at that position. Dombrowski also said Bryce Harper will move back to first base next year.

"He did not have a good year. He needs to fix things with his swing. He knows he has to be better at shortstop. I told him that is mandatory. I told him he cannot play shortstop like he did in 2026 going into 2027," Dombrowski said about Turner (via NBC Sports Philadelphia). "... He's played (outfield) before. He prefers playing the infield but we'll wait and see if he can improve there, and if not we can discuss moving him out there."

Turner, 33, had the worst season of his career in all phases in 2026. He hit .242/.297/.378 in exactly 700 plate appearances, numbers that are comfortably below league average, and his shortstop defense was poor. That was according to both the eye test and the numbers: 21 errors, minus-17 defensive runs saved, and minus-8 outs above average.

You needn't look back far to see the last time Turner was a comfortably above-average hitter and defender. He finished fifth in the NL MVP voting in 2025 and was great on both sides of the ball. This past season was the first time in Turner's career that performance was an issue. He had been one of the game's most consistently excellent players since arriving for good in 2016.

This is a bad offseason to need a shortstop. The best free agent shortstop is likely Mauricio Dubón, who is more of a super utility guy than an everyday player. There are some appealing trade candidates, namely Zach Neto (Los Angeles Angels) and possibly Jeremy Peña (Houston Astros), though the Phillies may not have the prospects to win a bidding war.

Infielder and top prospect Aidan Miller missed almost the entire 2026 regular season with a back injury and has eight career games of Triple-A experience. He could be a midseason replacement for Turner in 2027, assuming his back cooperates. Bryan Rincon is not as touted a prospect as Miller, but he's a no-doubt shortstop defensively. He could be a midseason option as well.

The best shortstop solution may be second baseman Bryson Stott, who has shortstop defensive chops and shifted to third base as part of Philadelphia's defensive realignment following the Luis Arraez trade. Re-siging Arraez, moving Stott to short, and shifting Turner to the outfield might be the team's best arrangement, defensively. For now, the Phillies will stick with Turner at short.

In addition to the Turner (and Harper) news, Dombrowski also announced Thursday that the Phillies have re-signed reliable lefty reliever Tim Mayza to a one-year contract, and named former New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza their new third base and infield coach. The Mets fired Mendoza in June.

The Phillies went 88-74 this year and clinched a wild-card berth of the final day of the regular season. They lost the Wild Card Series to the NL East rival Atlanta Braves in three games. Philadelphia named interim manager Don Mattingly their full-time manager earlier this week.

Next season will be Year 5 of Turner's 11-year, $300 million contract. He is signed through 2033.