Phillies' Trea Turner Says 'Getting Traded Is Harder Than Free Agency'

Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner struggled to start the new season after signing with the team, and he couldn't quite put his finger on the reason for the slow start.

"I don't know what it was," he told Bob Nightengale of USA Today on Sunday. "I had already made a decent amount of money, so it wasn't a money thing. I've played on playoff teams. I've played in big markets. Personally, I think getting traded is harder than free agency. If you want to make yourself feel better, you can come up with all kinds of excuses, but I just didn't play well."

Turner, 29, is hitting just .247 with seven homers, 22 RBI, 41 runs and a .681 OPS. But he's turned a corner in June, hitting .286 with two homers and seven RBI.

"Trea Turner is Trea Turner for a reason," Bryce Harper told Nightengale. "Trea is a superstar player. People don't see the effect and impact he has on us in this clubhouse and the culture. He's unbelievable on and off the field. Believe me, Trea is going to be just fine, I'm not worried about him at all."

He's a key part of the Phillies core after signing an 11-year, $300 million contract with the team this offseason. It was a win-now move for a Phillies team trying to return to the World Series after falling short against the Houston Astros in the 2022 edition.

While Turner signed a mega deal to join Philly, he told reporters that wasn't the only factor, or even the primary one:

"Money wasn't necessarily the number one option for us. Obviously, it plays a part. We just pictured ourselves here. I pictured myself in this uniform. [My wife Kristen] pictured living here and having family come and visit. We pictured playing with Bryce and [Kyle] Schwarber and a lot of those guys on the team now. [Hitting coach] Kevin Long... it seemed like a lot of those things added up and pointed us in this direction, and we were excited about it.

"This place is fun to play. We watched a lot of the playoff games. This place was rockin'. Just a lot of things pointed in this direction. We felt really comfortable and really happy."

Turner had an excellent season in 2021 between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting .328 with 28 homers, 77 RBI, 107 runs, 32 stolen bases and a .911 OPS in 148 games.

He didn't quite reach those heights in 2022 but was still excellent, hitting .298 with 21 homers, 100 RBI, 101 runs, 27 stolen bases and a .809 OPS in 160 games.

The two-time All-Star and 2019 champion with the Nationals is now looking to bring a title to Philadelphia, joining an impressive core that also includes Harper, Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, J.T. Realmuto, Schwarber and Nick Castellanos, among others.