Yesterday we learned that free agent Justin Turner had a final four teams he was considering for 2021. The Dodgers and Blue Jays have long been known as interested parties, but now we can add the Brewers as the third team looking to woo Turner, per Jon Heyman of the MLB Network. Turner wants a four-year deal, but that seems unlikely for the 36-year-old. The Dodgers hope to bring him back for two, but if another team is willing to go to three years for the GEM Agency client, that could be enough to pry Turner from LA. Whether the Blue Jays, Brewers, or the final mystery team are willing to make that kind of commitment to Turner is TBD.
The Brewers are an interesting entrant into the Turner sweepstakes. They have about $25MM before hitting their luxury tax payroll from 2020, so there’s room for a splashy addition if the Brewers are going to maintain their payroll. That’s a big “if,” however. The Brewers have been largely inactive thus far, however, with their only Major League contract going to infielder Daniel Robertson, who figures to play a reserve role for Milwaukee.
The Brewers have a host of young, promising, but unproven infield contributors who could move around the diamond to accommodate Turner. Keston Hiura demands a lineup spot, and he’ll probably play the keystone, while Luis Urias and Orlando Arcia are their other likely starters. Arcia has had more than enough time to establish himself, and outside of some postseason and big-game heroics, he hasn’t done enough to guarantee his starting spot. A career slash line of .244/.295/.366, with a roughly-average 20.1 percent strikeout rate, and below-average 6.6 percent walk rate definitely leaves room for improvement. Turner’s 130 wRC+, for instance, would give the Brewers’ lineup quite the boost from Arcia’s 71 wRC+ career mark.
He would be useful for 2 years, but anything over that is a risk.
Yeah he is always injured, and his defense has slipped fairly far from 2016/17’ Seems like turners camp trying to get dodgers to go 3 years which seems unlikely
His clubhouse presence alone is unquestionably worth a third year.
Not worth 20 million per season with seager, bellinger, kershaw and buehler needing to be resigned in short order.
I agree. But I feel strongly a 3 or even 4 year deal could be worked out at a much lower AAV than that to keep him in LA. If 4 years is truly what’s holding it back, just restructure/reduce the $$$.
MLB teams can’t cry poverty when the Brewers are just $25m from the luxury tax and still aggressive during a pandemic.
The Brewers aren’t. What that sentence is saying is they are about $25 M below last year’s payroll, when that payroll is calculated for luxury tax purposes. There are several ways to calculate payroll.
They aren’t anywhere near the luxury tax level.
The Brewers are not $25 million away from the luxury tax. They are $25 million away from their 2020 payroll, which is not the same as the luxury tax.
How has signing another ‘stellar’ collection of journeymen bums in the hopes of finding a diamond in the rough been aggressive?
Didn’t find anyone last year. Won’t find anyone this year among the pathetic signings of losers.
I’d say Stearns hasn’t found one–outside of pitchers, and everyone uses that strategy for the pen–since Thames or Aguilar.
It’s been at least 5 years since he found someone on the cheap who way outperformed their previous ability.
That’s not aggressive. It’s cowardly.
Unless he has some big splash signing late in the game to surprise us.
I wouldn’t call “showing interest” in anyone being aggressive. The Brewers have been far from aggressive this off-season.
Let’s go Brew Crew! Ozuna, Semien, and Turner in the span of three days? That’s a lot of interest in some big names! Pull the trigger on a few of them and we might be looking at a dang good team!
“Interest” is a far cry from signing, making an offer, actually speaking with a player/his agent or said player(s) being at all interested in the Brewers, unfortunately.
However, in this instance I hope nothing comes of it. Signing an aging, player with deteriorating skills to a long term, expensive deal is actually worse than taking a flier on a bounce back candidate.
Except Stearns hasn’t found a player on the cheap who out performed since Thames or Aguilar. EVERYONE was a bust last year and I am certain that none of the players signed this off season will be even remotely good. It’s more Smoak and Gyorko types, only ALL of them this year are worse.
I’d go 2 years and 25 million for Turner. Then they still have 12 million a year for another decent player.
2/$25 seems reasonable from the Brewers standpoint. I just don’t see turner accepting that.
Yikes! I’d rather have Gyorko back.
That’s crazy — Gyorko is only a shadow of the player Turner has been and will continue to be for the next couple of years
The Brewers will surely have to go 3 or 4 years to land him and he’s too old. Gyorko is younger, cheaper, and more versatile.
Really? As a Giants fan, I have respect for Turner. He’s a great clubhouse guy and he’s not too bad of a player
I think Turner is a nice player, just not in 3 or 4 years. Look at the season Gyorko had for the Brewers last season. Similar production and can be had for a few million and a single season.
How good is a 40 year old third baseman? Pujols might not be best comparison being a first baseman/DH however what was his output at 40? Pujols is a first ballot player. It’s never a good idea to give a 4 year contract to a player that”s expected to give high output at that age. I don’t see the Brewers going four years. No one will.
Pujols is definitely not the comp. Beltre would have been the much better comparison and he was solid right up til he retired at 39.
Only way he leaves the Dodgers is if the Brewers overpay
Any team that signs a free agent “overpays” by definition, since most players take the best offer they receive.
I think he means that if the offers are similar, or slightly better offer by the Brewers, he would still chose the Dodgers. Who knows if that is true? Turner seems like that kind of guy.
Maybe. I hear the idea often that things (including ballplayers) have different values than the ones set by the competitive market for them. Does anyone ever underpay?
Who wouldn’t fulfill a lifelong dream and play baseball while making (atleast) $555k?!
I would do it for less than salary I’m making now.
And that figures is going up this year.
Turner would fit better with Milwaukee if there is a Universal DH
I believe there will be once the next CBA is signed. He’s playable in the field this year, though.
Brewers have no starting-caliber 3B on the roster. Lack of DH is not a barrier to acquiring Turner. Now, the $40M over 3 years might be.
4 years and 60 M for Turner for all teams not named Dodgers
Except for Cain, Yelich and Huira no one is of starting caliber this year. And if the dh does really happen this year, I expect they would bring Ryan Braun back for the minimum so the fans can bid him farewell. Besides Robin Yount,only player in club history to play his whole career in Milwaukee.
I believe Jim Gantner did as well..but I could be wrong.
You are correct sir
Teddy Higuera is another.
Ben Sheets should have been.
Don’t know why he came back twice with other clubs after missing an entire year each time.
Those last 2 years he played were terrible by his standards.
Should have retired a Brewer.
Billy Wegman was also a Brewer for life.
What about Mat Gamel?
True! I’d forgotten because he was such a disappointment.
However, I would point out that he played only 5 years and didn’t even amass 250 ABs.
For the purpose of this exercise–because there probably are thousands of ballplayers who came up once and had 20 ABs and never came back to the Majors–I do believe we should set the bar at a minimum of 500 ABs.
Gamel played for 5 years, but he didn’t even have a HALF season’s ABs.
Did I miss something or didn’t they just agree to terms with Kolton Wong? He’s not starting caliber? Arcia’s been starting SS for a team that was one game from World Series in 2018. He’s definitely starting caliber.
There will be by 2022. It will be put in the next CBA. I think both players and owners want it they are just trying to use it as a bargaining chip for this year.
If there is a universal dh Ryan Braun would be back instead
Hard to imagine him getting a guaranteed 3 years, let alone 4. I’d offer 2 plus a team option on a 3rd. He’s a definite upgrade and good fit, but not for that 4 years.
I hope it’s a long ceremony , cause it’s gonna be a short honeymoon!!!
HAHAHAHAHA! (slaps knee violently at how insanely funny this is)
Sign Turner, Semien, and Cron and this lineup can compete in what is a mediocre division.
It really will be the worst division in baseball this year, followed by the AL West. Every other division has at least one team that can realistically dream of hoisting the trophy at season’s end. The NL Central might not have a team win 90.
Except that the Crew will have both the best starters and the best pen in all of MLB.
You can win with a below average starting line up with this pitching.
St. Louis will be better than anyone believes, but they and the Crew will beat up the rest of the Division so badly this year that both should be right around 90.
I feel like this is one of those rumors that appears 24-48 hours before the player resigns with his old team. He’s returning to the Dodgers. Two years with a vesting option. If the player performs, he gets his 3rd year. If he doesn’t, he goes the J.A. Happ route and is gone after two.
He has no business receiving a four-year deal
If he’d been offered a four-year contract he would have already signed it.
He absolutely does…. in a normal year
Brewers should sign him so Cubs and Dodgers can do a Bryant trade. Yes, I am a Cubs fan that just wants him gone. And there should be a few mid tier prospects that the Dodgers could send to the cubs
Bryant is a fine player, but I don’t see the Dodgers purposely trading for a Scott Boras client that is scheduled to hit the open market after this season.
Great player but has fallen off in the last year or two. He can only decline (or juice on roids).
He’d be a great mentor dressing room personality but not at 20 mil a year. The Jays need to put down the pen and look elsewhere for a third baseman that will be here longer.
Fallen off… from a 141 OPS+ from 2014-2018 to a mere 132 OPS+ in 2019 and 2020. He’s not quite the defensive player he was a few years ago, but he’s still very capable at 3B. As for injury concerns, the Dodgers are a cautious team with massive depth, and often missed time is inflated by their ability to plug in versatile stopgap talent and not rush a player back. The Dodgers play the long game, resulting in what’s best for long term health of the player and the team.
The concern is that he will eventually slow down, not that he already has.
The concern is the tenure…3 years, 4 years, not worth it at his age. He’ll be carried baggage at that point
Cain would be completely off the books in Turner’s 3rd year. Even if no DH this year, it’s possible it will return in 2022 with new CBA and that helps older players like Turner extend their productivity. Nelson Cruz is the perfect example.
Is “dressing room” what they call a locker room in Canada? Because it means something considerably different in the U.S.
I guess, I wouldn’t know. You sound like the expert thought sooooo…yeah if you say so
If you are American, you have no excuse for calling a locker room a “dressing room.” These are athletes, not people trying on clothes in a store.
Do you also refer to uniforms as “costumes?” Or perhaps a combination of blouses and trousers. “Game, blouses.” It doesn’t take an expert, by the way.
Dressing room is also a theater term.
Uniform and costume are synonyms.
Also, they do put a lot of make up on, just like in the theater.
Or doesn’t the eye black used in MLB and pro football count?
Many pro basketball players wear jewelry, ear rings, and even put on eye liner (Kyle Korver)..
Sports is entertainment and most of it is rigged by corrupt large market teams and the refs (after all, the Brewers have led the league for 5 STRAIGHT years in bad calls by the Umps, both against their pitchers AND their hitters).
Of course it’s a dressing room. It’s where you dress up in your little costumes and put your make up on before the show!!
Then I’m glad I’m not an American. You get dressed in a dressing room, or locker room or change room…you get the point pinhead, it’s the same thing.
To get back to the actual athletic point, the guy is already dropping off and he’s not worth the money. A mentor for the kids, no question. Can the jays do better than a ridiculous term? Absolutely
Not really. ALL professional sports are rigged (see: Packers getting called for every little PI, while TB never got called once on egregious PIs).
It’s entertainment and it’s absolutely not clean.
It’s a smoke and mirror show like movies or the theater.
Therefore, dressing room isn’t all that wrong. They do put on their little costumes and make up there (or doesn’t eye black count?).
If there is a decline he for sure makes up for that in being a team leader. If there is anything it’s neutral.
You mean in the dressing room?
I would be very, very surprised if Turner ends up in Milwaukee unless they go way over market to sign him.
Sign a 36 year old to a multiple year contract with limited payroll? Seems like most of the central will be rooting for this deal too
2 years and 25 million would be great for the Crew. Leaves them 12 million for one other player (which is all they need with the best pitching staff in MLB).
If the Brewers pulled him off it would be worth letting all those players go
Because paying 1 guy the cumulative of what all the others would have made is sound strategy for a small market team…
Except Turner is clearly near the end of being a productive, every day or nearly every day player, who seems to want a deal paying him like an above average player in his prime, until age 40.
Hes not Nelson Cruz, or a DH.
Looks like someone didn’t notice that Arcia had a career year last season…
Lol not a chance in hell the Brewers would pay big for him at this stage.
I hear the same offer of 2 years + option. Would there be a deal of 3 years of a low guaranteed money with insensitives and a option for a fourth? Who says no?
Not trying to be a jackhole, but seeing the word “insensitives” is hilarious to me for some reason.
I assume you meant incentives..
Hahah! Yes. Incentives*
That was very incentives for you to bring that up.
If I were a player I would be trying for everything I could get on a last career contract. However the Dodgers must be smart about it. We would all love for “JT” to come back, but it has to make sense for this year and future years for the Dodgers. If “JT” decides to leave for a bigger paycheck we should all understand that. I am sure Andrew has a backup plan just in case.
That backup plan is named Edwin Rios.
LOO
I personally would rather see the Brewers sign Franco and take on Myers contract for the Padres with them also sending us a good prospect to take Myers. Then find someone to take Garcia contract off our hands with Taylor in right. That still gives Brewers flexibility if we can add another arm.
I like the Dodgers and I like Turner, but LAD’s best move here is to move on. I know JT wants his payday, but his best days are behind him. I might go 2 years, but even so they’re still better off looking in another direction.
Move on to who? In what other direction?
Trading for Bryant. With just one year remaining before FA he won’t cost a ton in talent. He’ll be the bridge to Rios taking over full time at 3B in ‘22.
Could be, but this feels like something that would have already happened if it was going to happen. I’m also not convinced that Rios is the future. He’s still very much a work in progress, and given his age, is close to running out of time.
Mystery team has to be the Nats or Braves
I thought the same thing.
I think he resigns in LA and bites the bullet. Spring Training will role around and he’ll be without a contract if he sticks his guns on a 4 year deal. He’s the king of LA and worth every penny he will make with all of his on and off field contributions to this city.
“Interested in” and “have talked to” are not the same as “We signed him.” (I’m sure the Brewers are interested in Mike Trout.) Many of these stories are floated by the players’ agents to stir up competition among teams with a possible interest, and to drive up the terms. I do think 3 years for Turner at 3B (for the right AAV) would be worth pursuing, but I don’t put too much credence in these reports.
Brewers would have to pay him more than anyone else to take fewer years. Not many options are left for Stearns to do.
please no.