A former Philadelphia Phillies general manager believes the franchise will move on from one of their highest-paid stars this offseason following a third consecutive disappointing postseason.
During an appearance on SportsRadio 94WIP, Ruben Amaro Jr., who also played for the Phillies and is an analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia, predicted the team will explore trading someone like Bryce Harper or Trea Turner.
“You may see one of the big contracts moved,” Amaro said. “… I’m not saying who, and I know there’s a lot of no-trade clauses, but you may see one of those big contracts get moved.”
When host Devan Kaney asked if it would be a “Trea Turner-type contract,” Amaro said: “I’m just telling you the big contracts; that’s all I’ll say. I have a feeling that they may be exploring that. If you want to make a paradigm shift in your organization, do some different things. You never know.”
Amaro added: “Bold prediction and I don’t know that it will happen, but I think it’s something that will be explored.”
“You may see one of the big contracts moved.”
— Devan Kaney (@Devan_Kaney) October 11, 2025
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Which Contracts Could the Phillies Move?
The Phillies currently have four monster deals on the books: Harper ($330 million), Turner ($300 million), Aaron Nola ($172 million) and Zack Wheeler ($126 million). Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto are free agents while Nick Castellanos and Taijuan Walker are entering the final year of their respective deals.
Owner John Middleton will not move Harper, and it would be a shock if Harper agrees to waive his no-trade clause. He still has six years remaining on his deal, averaging $25.3 million per year.
Nola, who is signed through 2030, is coming off the worst regular season of his career, posting a 6.01 ERA and missing three months due to injury. His contract is untradeable.
Wheeler was having another Cy Young-caliber season before going down with a blood clot near his right shoulder in August and missing the rest of the season. He underwent surgery and is expected back at some point next year, but it remains to be seen what type of pitcher he will be after undergoing thoracic outlet decompression surgery.
That leaves Turner, who is coming off his best season in Philadelphia, winning the National League batting title and posting a 5.5 bWAR. The 32-year-old shortstop is signed through 2033, making $27.2 million annually, and does possess a no-trade clause. If Turner were to waive his no-trade protection, it would have to be for a perennial World Series contender, and the Phillies would need to pay down a massive portion of his contract to even get mid-level prospects back.
It’s hard to imagine president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski being able to trade Turner’s contract, but the future Hall of Fame executive could get creative if the Phillies really want to move on. They do have top prospect Aidan Miller in the minors who they could plug in at shortstop.
No matter what, the Phillies cannot run it back with the same offensive squad that has disappeared in the playoffs for three straight Octobers. If they want to finally bring a World Series championship back to Philadelphia, hard decisions will need to be made about the makeup of this team.
