Turner, right at home in red pinstripes, open to hitting anywhere in ‘fun’ lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Trea Turner looked mighty comfortable in red pinstripes Thursday, and it wasn’t because he’d worn them before. (His old college team, the Wolfpack of North Carolina State, wears them.) On the day the superstar shortstop was introduced at Citizens Bank Park, he looked at ease and at home because, well …
“We just pictured ourselves here,” he said, nodding toward his family. “I pictured myself in this uniform.”
It’s all real now. Four days after agreeing to an 11-year, $300 million contract, Turner pulled on his new jersey — No. 7 — and explained why he passed on a richer offer ($342 million) from the San Diego Padres to join the Phillies.
“I was lucky enough to have some good offers on the table,” he said. “Money wasn’t necessarily the number one option for us.”
Kristen Turner, Trea’s wife and college sweetheart, hails from Flemington, N.J., about an hour from Philadelphia. The couple has a young son, Beckham.
In addition to geography, Turner liked the idea of reuniting with former Washington teammates Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, as well as Kevin Long, his former hitting coach with the Nationals.
“My wife pictured living here and having family come and visit,” Turner said. “We pictured playing with Bryce and Schwarber and a lot of those guys on the team now. Kevin Long.
“It seemed like a lot of those things added up and pointed us in this direction, and we were excited about it.”
There was something else that lured Turner to Philadelphia. He watched the Phillies’ postseason run, saw those electric crowds and those eight sellouts at Citizens Bank Park. He wanted to be part of it all. And, of course, he wants to help the Phillies get those two more wins and a World Series championship.
“This place is fun to play,” he said. “We watched a lot of the playoff games. This place was rockin’. Just a lot of things pointed in this direction. We felt really comfortable and really happy. We’re really excited.”
The Phillies leadership team of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, general manager Sam Fuld and manager Rob Thomson visited with Turner and his wife at their Florida home before Thanksgiving.
Turner wasn’t the only free-agent shortstop that the Phillies visited with.
But he was the guy they wanted.
“They told me right there that I was their number one target,” Turner said. “They were going to look at other…