Dave Dombrowski Told Trea Turner He Has to Be Better at Shortstop. He Used the Word Mandatory.

Trea Turner has seven years and a large pile of money left on his Phillies contract. His president of baseball operations just told the world that none of it guarantees him a position.

At his end-of-season press conference on Thursday, Dave Dombrowski said Turner has to improve defensively at shortstop in 2027 or move somewhere else on the field. Asked how firmly that had been communicated, Dombrowski did not soften it.

“I told him that is mandatory,” he said.

The numbers behind the warning

Turner was worth plus-17 Outs Above Average in 2025, which tied for third among 37 qualified shortstops. In 2026 he was minus-10, which ranked 39th out of 42. That is a 27-run swing in one season at the most important defensive position on the field.

The bat went with it. Turner hit .242 with 19 home runs, 58 RBIs, a .675 OPS and an 81 OPS+ across 700 plate appearances, the worst offensive season of his career. He had finished fifth in National League MVP voting the year before.

Dombrowski’s framing was blunt. If Turner plays shortstop the way he did in 2025, he can play shortstop. If he plays it the way he did in 2026, he cannot.

Turner is signed through 2033 on the 11-year, $300 million deal he got in December 2022. He had already gone home to Florida for the offseason and flew back to Philadelphia for a two-hour meeting with Dombrowski on Tuesday.

The fallback options are thin

Bryson Stott is the obvious internal answer. Beyond him the Phillies are talking about prospects, Aidan Miller and Bryan Rincon, who Dombrowski described as more likely to arrive early-to-midseason than on Opening Day. Turner would prefer to stay in the infield. The outfield came up as an alternative.

None of that is a plan. It is a pressure campaign, and Dombrowski clearly meant it to be heard.

Philadelphia hired the manager the Mets fired

The other news from Thursday was a hire. Carlos Mendoza, fired as Mets manager in June, is the Phillies’ new third base and infield coach for 2027. He replaces Bobby Dickerson, who was let go Wednesday along with hitting coach Kevin Long. The hitting coach job is still open.

Mendoza went 206-199 in a little under three seasons in Queens, reaching the NLCS in 2024 before being dismissed at 34-47 last June. He was a Yankees coach from 2018 through 2023, including four years as bench coach. He now goes to work for the Mets’ chief division rival four months after being fired, specifically to fix infield defense.

Don Mattingly, who signed a two-year extension on Wednesday to manage the club, said he had never heard a bad word about Mendoza and that his enthusiasm for infield defense was a deciding factor. Given what Dombrowski said about Turner the next day, that hire reads like part of the same decision.

The rest of the offseason

Bryce Harper moves back to first base in 2027, with Kyle Schwarber possibly taking around 30 games there so Harper can DH. Tim Mayza re-signed for 2027. Alec Bohm and Luis Arraez are free agents. Jose Alvarado appears unlikely to return. Dombrowski wants to cut J.T. Realmuto’s workload behind the plate and add a better backup catcher. Caleb Cotham stays as pitching coach.

Dombrowski also said he has no interest in trading Harper, Turner, Schwarber or Realmuto, and that the club has payroll flexibility without needing to sign only expensive players. The Phillies went 88-74, clinched a wild card on the final day and lost the Wild Card Series to Atlanta in three games.

“We’re expecting and we want to win a World Series,” Dombrowski said. He is not going to get there with a shortstop ranked 39th out of 42, and he said so out loud.