Phillies get honest with Trea Turner about future at shortstop after bad 2026 season

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The Philadelphia Phillies' 2026 season was a disaster. They started horribly, firing Rob Thomson. After a turnaround with Don Mattingly in charge, the Phillies ran out of gas, and nearly had an all-time collapse to miss the playoffs.

But once they got there, they lost in three to the Atlanta Braves and were facing another long climb back to the postseason in 2027. However, Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies are not heading into next year so passively.

John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia shared that the Phillies and Dombrowski got honest with Trea Turner this offseason and told him that if he doesn't improve, the Phillies are going to take him off his shortstop position this upcoming season.

Phillies get brutally honest with Trea Turner, threaten to move him off SS position

"He did not have a good year," Dombrowski said of Turner. "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."

While that is quite the harsh quote from Dombrowski, will the Phillies actually do anything if Turner doesn't improve at shortstop this offseason?

Well, Clark shared that Dombrowski told Turner, "If he plays shortstop as he did in 2026, then he won't be playing shortstop."

If Turner were to continue to struggle defensively in the offseason and spring training, then the Phillies plan to move him to a new position next year.

That could mean Turner is playing second base with Bryson Stott manning third base, as he did after the Luis Arraez trade this past season.

He could also move to the outfield, but with Dombrowski revealing that Turner would prefer to stay in the infield, a move to second base, and Stott going to shortstop or third, would make sense.

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Aidan Miller is getting close to making his MLB debut, so the Phillies could pencil him into the infield at either shortstop or third base, with Stott taking up the other spot and Turner manning shortstop with Bryce Harper back at first base.

Turner himself knows he didn't have a good season, and Clark shared that Turner "takes complete accountability" for his struggles and that he's "already working on his swing."

It's going to take more than just fixing his offense to stay at shortstop, however, as he'll need to play much better defense. With new infield coach Carlos Mendoza joining the club, the hope is that Turner can improve defensively and return to his 2025 form.

If he can do that, and also have a much better offensive season at the plate, the Phillies' lineup could be in a much better spot than it was last season, given how badly Turner struggled all year.

But Turner has an ultimatum. If he can't improve defensively, he'll be playing at a new position next year. The Phillies got honest with Turner and aren't going to be afraid of change this offseason.