PHILADELPHIA — In stretching out Trea Turner’s $300 million contract over 11 years, the Phillies diluted the average annual salary for luxury-tax purposes and payroll flexibility. It’s the approach they took four years ago in signing Bryce Harper. The length of Turner’s deal, like Harper’s 13-year pact, was predicated on economics, not baseball.
But the Phillies also wagered that their new shortstop will have an unusually long stay at one of the sport’s most demanding positions.
“We’re betting on just elite athleticism and a desire to be really, really good for the entirety of his contract, the entirety of his career,” general manager Sam Fuld said recently. “We see him as a shortstop for a long, long time.”
