The trade deadline’s biggest swap saw Max Scherzer and Trea Turner sent to the Dodgers in exchange for four prospects, officially marking the end of an era for the Nationals. Due to a positive COVID-19 test and a subsequent quarantine, Turner didn’t make his Dodgers debut until yesterday, and didn’t officially meet with the media (including Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post) until today, and the shortstop shared some details about the end of his time in D.C.
For starters, Turner confirmed reports that the Nats hadn’t made him a new extension offer since their earlier talks concluded in March 2020. Last week, Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo said talks were being held off due to a request from Turner and his CAA Sports representatives, as Turner’s camp preferred to see how this winter’s free agent shortstop class reset market expectations. (Turner himself isn’t scheduled for free agency until after the 2022 season.)
However, Turner had a different version of events, telling reporters “I said I would talk about an extension whenever and waited for that to happen, and it didn’t happen. So I’ve been told a lot of things over the last two years and, for me, actions speak louder than words. That’s kind of in the past now, it’s over with, and excited to start a new chapter.”
Back in March, Rizzo said the Nats were planning to issue long-term extension offers to both Turner and Juan Soto, yet it appears nothing was sent in Turner’s direction. It could be that the club did plan to re-engage with Turner’s agents at some point, except the team’s slide down the standings in July then altered Washington’s plans for both the short- and long-term. Four days prior to the trade deadline, Peter Gammons reported that Nationals ownership wasn’t planning to retain Turner on an extension, which kicked the rumor mill into high gear.
Not only did the Nats clean house and move most of their players signed only through 2021, the fire sale also extended to players with slightly more team control. Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, and Will Harris are now the only Nationals on guaranteed money for 2022, and the Nats now seem to be aiming towards a somewhat larger-scale retrenching around Soto (controlled via arbitration through 2024) as their cornerstone.
That made Turner expendable, and adding him along with Scherzer resulted in a nice haul of prospects from Los Angeles.The next interesting wrinkle will be to see how extension talks might develop between Turner and the Dodgers during the 2021-22 offseason. Turner’s presence gives the Dodgers a logical replacement if Corey Seager leaves in free agency this winter, and as we’ve seen with several notable names (i.e. Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Turner), the Dodgers have been aggressive in locking up players they see as major building blocks.
Friend who works for CAA Sports says Turner doesn’t want to sign with a West Coast team.
Friend of a brother’s sister twice removed cousin says he wants to sign with a west coast team.
My uncle’s lawyer’s mother-in-law’s adoptive daughter’s live-in-ex-lover’s dog told me Trea Turner is switching to hockey and signing with Edmonton
Isn’t that in the North Coast facing the Arctic Ocean? I’m really confused here.
My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with a girl who saw Ferris pass-out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious.
How is uncle freddy doing?
I have some news to share with you, Lee. He’s not really your uncle but your real dad who is also currently my wife’s boyfriend.
I thought he was my gay uncle’s side piece
All two people I know for a fact to have a gay uncle have confirmed said uncle is a player and indeed has a side piece
Look there’s no Uncle Freddy here and I think you got the wrong party. This is Kissel!
A rather obscure Jerky Boys reference has been made, dislodging it from my brain and I’m not sure what to do about it.
My doctor’s dentist’s 3rd cousin said “who’s Trea Turner?”.
A long dead relative of mine(twice removed) said Turner wants to be a Dodger for life. He also said to stay off that new ocean liner Titanic?
I don’t remember what I was going to say anymore…
Am I having a stroke?
So many rude people on here. Is that why you open this app?
Mate it’s comedy chill
Sounds like a negation tactic. Who wouldn’t want to live in SoCal if you can afford it?
I heard that too.. however money and winning changes people’s minds.. he was originally drafted by padres .
Nice write up Mark.
MLB teams are going to be very frugal going into next year without a CBA in place. I think we have seen that with the Cubs making no legitimate offers to the players they traded and now this. They are trying to create leverage…….
Exactly. I think just about everybody realizes a work stopping is almost inevitable. Between that and the revenue uncertainty of COVID (THIS year), I doubt you’re going to see many extensions for a while.
Inevitable? I don’t think I would go that far.
The Cubs are hardly the gold standard for recent spending to improve your team
Trevor Story at SS would fit nicely here. It’s a need and Nats have some money coming off the books.
what would be the point? why would they let trea go for story who’s not as good?
They got prospects for Turner and could sign the cheapest of the SS free agents.
Story probably is cheaper than Correa or Seager.
I don’t know if they will but I could see it potentially.
Prospects in return, he already declined a contract, the SS FA class is stacked
Yeah exactly. Why wouldn’t they try to sign one of the FAs when all it costs is money. They were able to get some good pieces from the dodgers this year when they weren’t going anywhere and did Max a solid
Hahaha you are dreaming sir!
Guys never hit more than 25 home runs in his career. Love his leadership but paying a 30 year old speed SS $250 mil just isn’t smart. Pay for power not speed. With that being said, pulling hard for him and Max in LA.
Absolutely agree with this. Don’t make an emotional decision, make a business decision. That being said, if I’m Soto, I’m at least irked. NL East is weak this season and the Nats very easily could’ve snuck in
The way it’s gone the last couple of weeks in the nl east, is right. The Nat’s could be right in it…I mentioned a couple weeks ago Turner’s durability. He’s only played one full season. Too many injuries. I wouldn’t have given him a huge contract if I were Rizzo either. Maybe Story is the move. He would be much cheaper
From what I saw tonight, Turner is every bit as good as advertised. He did everything but sell peanuts in the concession stand. Really hope Seager stays but Turner would not be a downgrade at all.
I wonder if Trea Turner was ever a dishwasher. I know his sister Page was a librarian or worked at a bookstore.
I read that three times to get it smh
NYY17 2- Umm… are you a Dad? If you are not, then I am offended. These are OUR jokes, and for you to just use them for your own gain is disrespectful and wrong.
Aaaargh, what a bad joke. And I thought your Snow reference a couple of weeks ago was lame (if really surprising, given he had that hit song in like 1991).
Was that informer or did he have another?
Turner was a huge contributor for the Nats. Yet, in some ways it seems they have handled him poorly at crucial times. In the very beginning he was sent back down for a few weeks in favor of keeping Danny Espinoza at shortstop. Trea was scorching hot at the time, and Danny Espinoza was…Danny Espinoza. That he wasn’t signed to an extension a few years ago is really a failure of the organization. It’s possible his camp wasn’t open to it back then, but I don’t think so.