Phillies face crowded infield questions for 2027 with Arraez, Bohm and Sosa in free agency

The Philadelphia Phillies enter the offseason with more infield questions than answers, according to a report from Anthony Franco at MLB Trade Rumors. Luis Arraez, Alec Bohm, and Edmundo Sosa are all heading to free agency, leaving the club with significant vacancies on the dirt. The positions those three occupied were themselves the product of a mid-season reshuffling — one that, per Franco's report, did not work out.

What happened

At the trade deadline, the Phillies reorganized their entire infield to make room for Arraez. Bryson Stott moved to third base, Bohm shifted across the diamond to first, and Bryce Harper relocated to right field. Trea Turner was the only player who stayed put at shortstop. Per Franco's report, Arraez's numbers dropped after arriving in Philadelphia, and a left ankle sprain ultimately kept him off the Wild Card Series roster. With Arraez unavailable, the club moved Stott back to second base and turned to Sosa at third for their first-round loss in Atlanta.

Now all three of the players who filled those reshuffled spots — Arraez, Bohm, and Sosa — are entering free agency, per the report. The infield that existed before the deadline, and the one that existed after it, are both effectively gone.

Why it matters

The Phillies are not rebuilding. They finished 88-74 (.543), second in the NL East, and the roster around Harper, Turner, and Kyle Schwarber remains competitive. But the infield around those pieces is genuinely unsettled, and the decisions made this winter will shape how Don Mattingly — named the club's full-time manager on a two-year deal in the days surrounding this report — deploys his lineup in 2027.

Per Franco's report, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said on Thursday that he expects Harper to move back to his primary role at first base, though Harper could see occasional outfield work as well. Dombrowski also said the team hopes to use Schwarber more frequently at first base, which would allow Mattingly to give Harper semi-rest days at designated hitter. That is a sensible load-management framework — and it also means first base, at least in broad strokes, has something resembling a plan.

Shortstop is a different conversation entirely.

Is Turner still the starting shortstop?

Per the report, Turner will begin 2027 as the starting shortstop — but the Phillies made clear that status is not guaranteed to hold all season. Dombrowski's comments, attributed via The Associated Press, were pointed: "I told him it's really mandatory that it's like that. ... You cannot play shortstop like you did defensively in '26 going to '27."

That is not the language of an organization quietly hoping things improve. That is an organization saying, on the record, that improvement is required.

The numbers

The 2026 season was, by the report's accounting, the worst of Turner's career. His .242/.297/.378 slash line represented personal lows across the board, with the exception of his 2015 rookie season in which he barely played, per Franco. He still hit 19 home runs and topped 100 runs scored, but the report notes that a significant portion of that production was opportunity-driven — Turner started 156 games and was one of 14 players to log 700 or more plate appearances, with the Phillies keeping him in the top two spots in the order throughout.

The defensive numbers were worse. Per the report, Turner tied Miami's Otto Lopez for the MLB lead with 21 errors. He ranked last among shortstops with -17 Defensive Runs Saved, and his -8 Outs Above Average grade left him among the worst at the position by that measure as well. The report does note that Turner cleaned things up later in the season, which at least provides a directional data point heading into the offseason — though the full-season totals are what they are.

The 33-year-old's offensive decline and defensive struggles arrived together, which is the kind of convergence that tends to generate pointed public comments from a president of baseball operations. Dombrowski delivered exactly that.

Where the club stands

Philadelphia finished 88-74 (.543), second in the NL East and 6 games back in the division race, and has been eliminated from the division race. The club enters the offseason on a one-game winning streak, for whatever that is worth in October.

The broader organizational picture has been active in the days surrounding this report. The Phillies officially named Mattingly their full-time manager on a two-year contract, removing the interim tag he had carried. The club also parted ways with hitting coach Kevin Long and infield coach Bobby Dickerson after the 2026 season, per earlier reporting. A coaching staff that oversaw what Dombrowski himself described as a down offensive season is being reconstituted alongside a roster that needs significant infield additions. The two processes — rebuilding the staff and rebuilding the infield — are running in parallel, which is a lot of open tabs for one offseason.

What we don't know yet

The report does not indicate whether the Phillies intend to pursue Arraez, Bohm, or Sosa in free agency. Their departures are noted as facts of the offseason landscape, not as decisions the club has weighed in on publicly. It is also unclear who, if anyone, is being targeted to fill the open infield spots beyond the first base framework Dombrowski outlined.

Turner's defensive situation carries its own uncertainty. The report notes he improved later in the season, but Dombrowski's comments stop well short of a guarantee that Turner holds the shortstop job through 2027. What "not guaranteed to remain the case all season" looks like in practice — a platoon, a position change, an external acquisition — is not addressed in the report.

The new coaching staff, including whoever replaces Long at hitting coach and Dickerson in the infield, has not been announced. Those hires will matter for how the club addresses the offensive and defensive concerns Dombrowski flagged publicly. An infield coach walking into this particular situation will have a full docket from day one.

What to watch

The free-agent market for infielders will be the most direct indicator of where the Phillies are headed. With Arraez, Bohm, and Sosa all available to other clubs, Philadelphia will either need to re-sign at least one of them, find external replacements, or promote from within — and the report gives no indication which direction the organization is leaning.

Turner's offseason work and any defensive adjustments he makes will be worth monitoring as spring approaches. Dombrowski's comments were public and specific, which means the standard Turner is being held to is also public and specific. Whether the Phillies add a shortstop insurance option — or simply hold Turner to the standard Dombrowski described — is one of the more consequential questions the club faces before 2027 begins.

The Harper-Schwarber first base timeshare, meanwhile, is the one piece of the infield that appears to have a settled answer, per the report. In a winter with this many open questions, that may be the most useful place to start.