Phillies Counter Verlander Move By Signing Trea Turner To Mega Contract

The Philadelphia Phillies see your Justin Verlander, and raise you a Trea Turner.

Just hours after the Mets and Verlander agreed to a two-year deal, the Phillies inked arguably the best shortstop in baseball in Turner. The two agreed to a mega, 11-year, $300 million deal, according to ESPN.

The deal, which reportedly also includes a full no-trade clause and no deferred money, ties Turner to the Phillies through 2033 and is the 10th $300 million-plus contract in baseball history.

Turner also joins the Mets' Francisco Lindor, the Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Texas Rangers' Corey Seager as the only shortstops to agree to such a deal.

Monday's whopping deal also reunites Turner with former teammate Bryce Harper, and could keep the two in Philadelphia for the remainder of their careers.

Turner and Harper played together in Washington until Turner was dealt to the Dodgers in 2021.

Trea Turner joining Phillies, loaded NL East

Those two, combined with Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Nick Castellanos could very well make the Phillies favorites to return to the World Series next year, and beyond.

Philadelphia came up just short in the Fall Classic last month, losing to the Houston Astros in six games.

In Turner, the Phillies are getting a two-time All-Star who hit .298/.343/.466 with 21 homers, 100 RBI and 101 runs scored this past season. The 29-year-old also swiped 27 bases in 160 games.

Turner's $27.3 million-a-year contract will also reportedly push the team's payroll well over the $200 million - a price newly-extended GM Dave Dombrowski is apparently more than willing to pay.