The MLB Draft is nothing like that of the other sports leagues. The NBA, NHL, and NFL allow their franchises to trade draft picks both years in the future and to wheel and deal both before and after the draft. The practice is so widespread that the common fan knows exactly how many future draft picks their team has either dealt or acquired and treats the picks like currency. Not in MLB though.
The MLB draft is treated like 30 separate businesses operating independent deals with their chosen draft pick. If you don’t make a deal within a certain time, they go back in the pool and get drafted the next year if they are a college junior or in 3 years if they are a high school senior. Most importantly though, no trades…kinda.
Friday, August 22 at 6:45p – Taijuan Walker vs Cade Cavalli (R)
3 game series at Citizen’s Bank Park – Philadelphia, PA
Saturday, August 23 at 6:05p – Aaron Nola v. Mitchell Parker (L)
Sunday, August 24 at 1:35p – Ranger Suarez vs Jake Irvin (R)
That’s enough preamble, let’s get to Trea Turner. As a high schooler out of Lake Worth, FL, Turner was drafted in the 20th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates the same year they took Garrett Cole #1 overall. Can you imagine if they had signed Turner to add to Cole and Josh Bell all in the same draft? Players can technically sign for anything, no matter where they are picked, but the Pirates didn’t pony up enough to lure Turner away from a commitment to NC State. No exact figures have ever been disclosed, but Turner himself said that Pittsburgh “could have given me $1 million and I would have still gone to college.”1 Anyway, he took his talents from high school to college, putting his MLB dreams on hold.
3 years later, after absolutely crushing college with gaudy stolen base and hit numbers, Turner entered the MLB Draft for real. According to mlb.com, some of the top prospects that year were Brady Aiken at #1, Turner’s Wolfpack teammate Carlos Rodon at #2, Aaron Nola at #6, Jeff Hoffman at #13, and Kyle Schwarber at #16. Turner slotted in at #14. Of course, this is baseball, so you never know where someone is going to be picked. Aiken went #1, Schwarber went #4, Nola went #7, and Trea went #13 to the Padres. The Padres? Yes, the Padres.
That offseason, new San Diego GM AJ Preller made a bonkers 3 team prospect trade with the Nationals and Rays. The Padres wanted Wil Myers from the Rays, a year removed from his Rookie of the Year season where he looked like the next big thing, but was now fresh off a season long slump. To send him out, the Rays wanted prospect Steven Souza Jr. from the Nationals apparently along with pitcher Jake Bauers from San Diego. For their trouble, the Nationals wanted current Phillies reliever Joe Ross and a Player to be Named Later.
A PTBNL is shorthand for circumventing the draft rules that forbade teams from trading a draft pick within 1 year at the time. This trade wouldn’t be completed until shortly after the 2015 Draft when the Padres sent Trea Turner to the Nationals. It’s crazy to think that in this blockbuster 11 player trade, easily the best guy in it was the one guy who technically wasn’t in it at all. Myers never became more than a frequently injured strikeout machine with San Diego, and it is hard not to imagine how much different they look with Turner instead.
With the Nationals, Turner blossomed almost immediately. He debuted shortly after the trade was completed but started 2016 in the minors for service time manipulation reasons. Upon his June 2016 call up though, there was no looking back. He amassed 3.3 WAR in just 73 games finishing 2nd only to Corey Seager in ROY voting. Turner’s stats were just about half that of Seager in half the games. Over the next few years Turner was regularly putting up solid all-around seasons but really broke out during the 2020 Covid season, finishing 7th in MVP voting. Unfortunately, as the old saying goes, all good players in Washington must leave eventually. It happened with Bryce Harper earlier, would happen with Juan Soto later, and at the 2021 Trade Deadline, it happened to Trea Turner.
According to John Heyman, the Nationals attempted to extend Turner before the 2020 season with a 6 year, $100m offer. Turner turned it down but agreed to talk contract again the next year. Apparently the Nationals never made him another offer. Instead, on July 30, 2021 the Nats traded Turner to LA along with Max Scherzer for the Dodgers’ top 2 prospects, Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz (along with two minor leaguers who never made it to the pros). MLB.com ranked Ruiz and Gray as the 56th and 57th best prospects in baseball. Both are still with the Nationals, but neither have amounted to much more than solid regulars at best.
As for Turner, 2021 was his best season so far with 6.5 WAR, a batting title, and a 5th place MVP finish. 2022 with the Dodgers would be a close second and serve as a great platform year for his free agency. Do you think any teams would have any interest in a 29-year-old shortstop who was a threat to win batting and stolen base titles every year?. Hmmm…
Everyone in the world knew the Phillies were in need of a shortstop and ready to spend. Turner was not only apparently interested in an east coast team, but Bryce Harper was publicly requesting that the Phillies sign his friend. That matchup was too perfect not to happen, right? Well, Turner wasn’t the only one in that free agent shortstop class as he had competition from Xander Boegarts, Dansby Swanson, and Carlos Correa. On December 5th, 2022 the Phillies signed Turner to an 11 year, $300m contract. The Phillies got their man and, despite some ups and downs, he has been unquestionably the best one of the 4 so far.
Turner has been roughly a 3.5 WAR player so far for the Phillies, but he has already surpassed that this season thanks to more consistency at the plate and much improved defense. In fact, a Top 5 MVP season is not out of the question this year. Turner is signed through 2023 at around $27m per season, meaning he has 8/$218m left on his deal. That’s probably not too far off a deal he could land if he were a free agent after this season.
All stats courtesy of baseball-reference. All contract numbers courtesy of Spotrac.com
Philly Front Office 
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