SATURDAY, 10:16pm: Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that Turnbow's deal is worth $600K if he makes the team, plus an additional $50K in incentives. Damon Lapa, Turnbow's agent, said "there were offers with significantly more money….But Derrick realizes he's at a point in his career where the choice he makes is more important than income potential."
FRIDAY, 10:35am: The Marlins reached an agreement on a minor league deal with reliever Derrick Turnbow, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
Turnbow, 32, hasn't been effective in the Majors since 2005 with the Brewers, a season that prompted Doug Melvin to give him a three-year, $6.5MM extension. Amid a rotator cuff injury, Turnbow logged a total of 30.6 pro innings the last two years. He requested his release from the Rangers' Triple A club in May. The Marlins have resurrected the careers of many relievers, but Turnbow wil be a challenge.
The Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Cardinals were among the other teams interested in Turnbow. Earlier this month, he auditioned for at least 16 clubs.
Thank you Marlins. Now the Dbacks can’t get him.
…and Dodgers fans also breathe a collective sigh of relief.
why ?
Um, because Turblow is terrible?
Smart move by Turnbow because the Marlins bullpen is pretty much wide open, and they make a habit out of turning forgotten pitchers into good arms.
Good luck with Turnblow!
As a Cardinals fan, I appreciate any efforts by other teams to keep him away from my team’s bullpen. Next time, can we make a concerted effort to sign him to another team in the NL Central? kthxbai
I don’t get the Turnbow hate. He’s been horrible in the last few years, that’s true, but he has shown potential to be a star reliever, and SIGNED A MINOR LEAGUE DEAL THAT AT IT’S MAX ISN’T EVEN WORTH 3 QUARTERS OF A MILLION DOLLARS. This is another low risk, high reward situations, much like the Andruw Jones signing by the Rangers last year.
I was actually going to say the exact same thing. Turnbow was great with us (brewers) for about a season and a half. He’s a stand up guy in real life and I hope the best for him. Low risk/ High reward. I’m just happy the guy gets a chance to turn his career around before its too late, and he is running out of time (32 years old). The problem with Turnbow, in Milwaukee at least, was all in his head. He relies on his heat, but he also has a plus curve ball when/if he can control it. He started getting really wild when he blew a couple saves and the fans started booing. He started over throwing and completely lost his command. Florida will be a great place for Turnbow to get his head right since there’s about an average of 8k fans on any given night in Miami so the boo’s won’t be as loud. Go get em T-Bow!
Dont forget the slider that he was working on before the “great mental breakdown” that was Derrick Turnblow bobble head night at Miller Park. He had the makings of somthing special, but dont forget that even during his hayday in Mil-town he was still known around the league as a pitcher with poor command, and batters hated to face him due to his wild 95+mph fastball. I wish the guy the best of luck, and hope that he can finally get his stuff together. I’m excited to see him try and ressurect his career this season. Except of course against the Crew. God speed Turnblow!
So Turblow had offers worth “significantly more money”. Yeah sure he did.
The point was that he is trying to revitalize his career, and his agent thinks that he would do best in Florida, which could set him up for a respectable pay day after the season.
That I do not know, I’m assuming the decision was based heavily off it being a pitchers park, and though I’m not an expert on the two teams, I think the Cardinals have more back end bullpen depth.
As I said above, Turnbows problem was all in his head. When the fans started booing he started overthrowing his fastball and lost confidence in his curve. He did have a wicked curve at one time. With the lack of fan base in Miami Turnbow doesn’t have to worry about letting anyone down. When he was here in Milwaukee the fan base got on him quick and in a hurry. Reason for it was because we had not made the playoffs in over 20 years and we were so close we could taste, until he started blowing save after save.
Difference is, in Miami he won’t be the closer, won’t be in pressure situations, and nobody’s in the stands to watch him pitch. If I’m right about all his problems being in his head then L.A. and St. Louis would be horrible options for him to pitch if he is trying to get his head right again.