On December 8, 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombroski, announced that the Phillies had signed shortstop Trae Turner to an 11-year deal worth $300 million. Turner, 29, has played for the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has extensive playoff experience, including World Series win from 2019.

The newsmaker in this story is Trae Turner, who looks like he will make an excellent addition to the Phillies ballclub. The publics that will be interested in this story are: every single team in the MLB, especially those in the National League, particularly the National League East; the Phillies organization; the entire fanbase of the Phillies organization; Trae Turner fans from around the world; baseball fans in general; sports gambling fanatics; sports apparel manufacturers; sports apparel retailers; and MLB executives. These publics can be divided into those that care about the story because it affects them in a monetary fashion (i.e. sports apparel manufacturers), or because they are just a fan of the sport and/or player.

As the PR person for the newsmaker, the audiences I need to concern myself with are the fanbase of the Philadelphia Phillies, the Phillies organization, and the city of Philadelphia as a whole.  This is an incredibly positive story, which says a lot about the Phillies brand. It demonstrates that the Phillies are not content with their deep postseason run in 2022, despite making the playoffs for the first time since 2011. It demonstrates that the Phillies are hungry for a World Series title in 2023, and are willing to do whatever they can in order to secure that victory. This move really shows that the Phillies brand is not the same one that people were familiar with in the 2010’s. It shows that the team is ready to do whatever it takes in order to win.

If I were the PR person, the only actions I would need to take would be to promote the incredible Phillies team even more than it already has been. The publics that are happy about this move by the Phillies are beyond elated. A few potential moves to further increase the promotional value of the trade would be similar branding techniques that were used in Bryce Harper’s 2021 MVP season, where the entire fanbase was chanting “MV3.” There is nothing to be concerned about as this story is some of the best news the Phillies organization has had since the trade for Bryce Harper prior to the 2019 season.

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-phillies-sign-trea-turner