Why The Phillies Won’t Trade For A Trea Turner Replacement
Trea Turner stormed out of the gates in 2024 with a .343 batting average and an .852 OPS in his first 33 games. The Philadelphia Phillies finally saw the player they signed to a $300 million contract entering the 2023 season. However, Turner suffered a hamstring injury that will keep him out an estimated six weeks.
Pat Gillick faced a similar problem in 2007 when Chase Utley took a pitch to his right hand just days before the MLB Trade Deadline. The eventual World Series GM acquired Tadahito Iguchi to plug in at second base.
Will Dave Dombrowski look for a similar plug-and-play in the middle infield? He already has, actually.
Whit Merrifield
The Phillies signed Whit Merrifield to a short-term contract to begin spring training. It seemed like a practical depth move to bring in a versatile position player for insurance behind a lineup with some potential platoon players and an unproven Johan Rojas.
Merrifield hit .284 and stole over 200 bases in eight seasons with the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays, primarily as an everyday player.
However, a slow start to his first season in Philadelphia raised some questions. Merrifield hit three singles only in his first 28 at-bats in 2024. The tendency of analysts to point out his All-Star appearance in 2023 seemed hollow. He didn’t have a strong second half, and MLB All-Star appearances aren’t the most accurate overall measure of a ball player to begin with.
Was a 35-year-old over the hill? Merrifield looked like a candidate to join the “Cup of Coffee Phillies” list on 97.5 The Fanatic.
A Golden Opportunity
Whit Merriefield went hitless in three at-bats on April 15. The Phillies squeaked out an ugly 2-1 win helped out by a fortunate call at home plate that kept the Colorado Rockies from tying the game.
All wins count the same in the standings though. The Phillies launched off after a tight win against an MLB bottom feeder as the first of 18 wins in a 21-game stretch.
Their veteran platoon man has started to come around. He’s 11 for his last 31 since the 0-3 performance against the Rockies. He’s looking more like the player Dombrowski signed just in time for his opportunity with the injury to Trea Turner.
Edmundo Sosa and Kody Clemens will also get some additional innings during Turner’s absence. However, neither infielder has anywhere close to the same track record as an everyday player as Whit Merrifield.
Bryson Stott will also slide back to shortstop occasionally, where he played most of the 2022 season, to allow Merrifield to play his natural position at second base.
Rob Thomson spoke about his accomplished utility man on May 6 after a victory against the San Francisco Giants.
“Really good at-bats. That’s the guy that we’ve seen for many years. Just good at-bats. He grinds. He uses the entire field. He can play small ball. He can bunt. He can hit and run. He can do a lot of different things and play anywhere on the diamond. He’s a baseball player.” -Rob Thomson
Tadahito Iguchi
Speaking of Iguchi, his name came up on The Phillies Show this week.
Gillick’s deadline addition hit .304 in 45 games to finish the 2007 season with the National League East champions. He played an everyday role for the first month while Utley sat. He later moved into a bench role after the everyday second baseman reentered the lineup.
Iguchi famously slid into home on Utley’s walk-off hit in an August thriller against the New York Mets that helped the historic NL East comeback.
What did the Phillies send to the Chicago White Sox for a lineup regular with .278 and .281 respective batting averages in his only two full MLB seasons? Michael Dubee, pitching coach Rich Dubee’s son, a Single A pitcher who ultimately never made it to the major leagues.
Why would Chicago GM Kenny Williams make that trade? It makes a little more sense in the big picture. The Phillies also acquired Freddy Garcia from the White Sox the previous offseason. Landing an expected ace was a big part of the reason Jimmy Rollins spoke so confidently about “the team to beat” in the NL East.
Garcia pitched 11 games in his only season in Philadelphia. The injuries that kept him off the mound very well might’ve existed before the trade.
“That was a gift to Pat Gillick because Kenny Williams felt bad for (trading) Freddy Garcia (to the Phillies)… It was like two baseball men doing each other a solid.” -Jim Salisbury
According to Gillick’s former assistant GM, The Phillies essentially picked up Tadahito Iguchi as an apology from Kenny Williams and the White Sox.
“I’ve got to believe that they’re had to be something to that (granting the favor) because there was some question about the medicals on Freddy that we checked out, but (the information was) maybe a little shady.” -Ruben Amaro Jr.
The history of the franchise might’ve unfolded differently without the unexpected deadline gift.
Would the Phillies have hung in the race during Utley’s absence? Would the incredible chasedown of the Mets have ever happened? Would the 2008 Phillies have won the World Series without that eye-opening playoff sweep in 2007?
It’s a fascinating case of the butterfly effect. Stay tuned to see if the acquisition of Whit Merrifield brings that kind of fortune to the Phillies.
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