Phillies news: Trea Turner took less money to play in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Phillies signed Trea Turner to a lucrative 11-year contract on Monday, but he turned down even more money from San Diego.

Trea Turner had a chance to sign with the Padres while the MLB Winter Meetings were in San Diego. It was a perfect script — almost too perfect.

Hollywood endings aren’t often reality, as Turner inked his 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies on Monday afternoon. Turner is set to play shortstop for Philadelphia for much of the next decade.

Turner’s AAV is quite high — near $28 million to be exact — but it’s a number the San Diego Padres could have matched and beaten, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription required) :

"“Turner, according to multiple sources, left money on the table. The actual terms of the Padres’ final offer were unclear. California has a higher income tax rate, but San Diego’s offer was believed to be significant enough to offset that.”"

Stealing a rival Dodgers, and one of their best at that, would’ve sent shockwaves throughout baseball and perhaps signaled a changing of the guard in the NL West. San Diego would’ve moved around its infield for Turner, so he could remain at shortstop.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

Why did Trea Turner sign with the Phillies?

Trea Turner had several reasons to sign with the Phillies, not the least of which is that they just represented the National League in the World Series. Former teammate Bryce Harper has been recruiting him for quite some time. His wife is from Flemington, NJ, which is just 50 miles from Philadelphia.

The list goes on.

But the answer to that question is simple — the Phillies made Turner their top priority. Carlos Correa was their second choice, and Xander Bogaerts reportedly their third. But the chasm between Turner and the rest was wide, and that became apparent in negotiations at the Winter Meetings.

This is why, despite San Diego offering more overall capital, Turner opted to sign with Dave Dombrowski and Co.