12:06pm: The Nationals officially announced that Turner has joined the organization, as Bill Ladson of MLB.com tweets.
11:27am: At long last, Trea Turner is on his way to join the Nationals. Turner is headed to Double-A Harrisburg today, according to Mike Saeger, the play-by-play announcer for the Padres’ Double-A affiliate (on Twitter).
Turner, of course, was shipped from the Padres to the Nationals in December’s three-way deal involving Wil Myers and the Rays. However, Turner was termed as a player to be named later in the swap since he was not eligible to be traded at the time. The agent for the shortstop prospect, Jeff Berry of CAA, expressed concern about his client’s situation almost immediately. At the time, Berry intimated that he might file a grievance action, but ultimately he had a change of heart.
“Trea has put this matter behind him and is focusing on his development and being a productive member of the Padres organization,” Berry said in a February statement.
Of course, just last month, the league ultimately decided to alter the PTBNL rules. Now, players selected in the amateur draft are permitted to be traded beginning the day after the conclusion of the World Series.
Over 321 plate appearances at the low-A and Class A levels last year, Turner slashed .323/.406/.448 with five home runs and 23 stolen bases. This year, in Double-A San Antonio, the former No. 13 overall pick has hit .322/.385/.471 across 254 plate appearances with five homers.
Coming into the season, Turner was rated as the No. 65 prospect in the game by Baseball America. Back in January, John Manuel of Baseball America speculated that the Padres did not view Turner as a shortstop in the long run since he does not have an exceptionally strong arm. Others believe that Turner can blossom into a strong shortstop at the big league level, however.
I’m glad there were no glitches along the way. He could have been injured, or all of the stories declaring him the PTBNL could simply have been wrong. Let’s hope his bat is as potent in Harrisburg and DC as it was in San Antonio.
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Great guy, got a chance to interview him the other day. His biggest critic is himself, in his own words. He’s going to do great things.
The Nats made out like bandits getting Turner and Joe Ross for Steve Souza
Great addition for the Nats! I hope, for the sake of Padres fans, that they win the world series in 2 years, because they’re really mortgaging their future this year.
What would it take for the A’s to get this guy in a trade? Pomeranz & Zobrist & Kazmir?
Nats made a great trade for Turner and Ross, Turner looks to be Desmond’s replacement next year!
Now watch them flip him for Chapman.
Yeah, I thought about either/or him/Joe Ross and others. Which would mean Steven Souza would’ve turned into Aroldis Chapman.