8:02pm: The club has announced the signing of Turner as well as that of outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (via Yonhap News; again, as conveyed by Kurtz). Turner receives a $1MM salary ($300K via signing bonus), while Hazelbaker will take home $700K ($200K signing bonus).
The 31-year-old Hazelbaker has impressive MLB numbers in a small sample. He has also at times posted compelling numbers in the upper minors, though 2018 was not his finest effort. While bouncing between three organizations, Hazelbaker ended the most recent campaign with a .204/.298/.385 slash over 356 plate appearances.
7:24pm: Veteran righty Jacob Turner has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Korea Baseball Organization’s KIA Tigers, per Naver Sports (Korean language link; h/t Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). Financial terms are not known.
Turner, who is still just 27 years of age, was once one of the brightest pitching prospects in baseball. While he raced to the big leagues in his second professional season at twenty years of age, Turner has never yet been able to find sustained success.
In recent seasons, Turner has settled in as a journeyman depth asset. He had brief stints with the Marlins and Tigers in 2018, revisiting the two organizations with which he began his career. He has also appeared briefly with the Nationals, Cubs, and White Sox.
All told, Turner owns only a 5.37 ERA in his 369 MLB frames, with 5.8 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 along with a 46.5% groundball rate. That said, Turner is still bringing 94+ mph heat on his sinker. With youth still on his side, a return stateside can’t be ruled out if he’s able to find something in the KBO.
Had such high hopes for him….
This guy has sucked for 4 years. He’s been cut by a number of teams.
I meant as the #9 pick in the draft.. Especially with the names taken after him. Storen, Pollack, Shelby Miller, Trout, and James Paxton.
I’m not sure what the KIA in KIA Tigers stands for, but if it’s Killed In Action Tigers, Turner doesn’t need to go all the way to Korea. We have our own Killed In Action Tigers right here in MLB, up in Detroit. Come back Jacob, they tricked you!! ☹️
Kia the car company. it’s a Korean company
I prefer the “Keep It Awesome” Tigers
Yes. Additionally the Korea Baseball Organization LG team are the Twins while the Samsung club is the Lions although I would have preferred the Blues!
The more ex-MLB players go to Japan and Korea, the more those leagues are driven to improve = good for baseball there, good for baseball here. Also, I’d think it looks better for his resume if an ex-MLB guy does a good job in Korea or Japan compared to if he were playing in AAA.
Well said
HazelBaker was one of those guys you had to root for when he was with the Cardinals.
I wish him the best, I hope he turns into Babe freakin Ruth over there! Go get’em!
Maybe he turns it around and pulls a Mikolas in a couple years… not necessarily too old for it to happen.
Looks like they are replacing Pat Dean with Turner. Not a great move, but understandable overall.
Great commentary Andrew! Love your podcast