Since he made his major league debut in 2015, Trea Turner has established himself as one of the reigning World Series champion Nationals’ most valuable players. A second baseman and then a center fielder at the beginning of his career, Turner took over as the Nationals’ shortstop in 2017 and now has a stranglehold on the position.
Dating back to his first full season in 2018, Turner has accounted for 8.3 fWAR and hit .283/.348/.451 (110 wRC+) with 38 home runs and 78 stolen bases – the second-highest total in MLB – across 1,309 plate appearances. And the 26-year-old Turner figures to contribute similar or better production in Washington for at least the next couple seasons, as he’s only now about to enter his first of three arbitration-eligible campaigns.
With Turner having already given the Nationals quite a bit of surplus value, it’s worth revisiting how he joined the team in the first place. To say the least, it was unusual transaction that led him to D.C. Turner was a 20th-round pick of the Pirates in 2011, but he elected to pass on signing with the Bucs in order to play at North Carolina State. That proved to be a wise decision by Turner, who increased his stock so much as a college player that the Padres took him 13th overall in 2014. Little did Turner or the Padres know then that he’d never play a real game in their uniform, nor was either side aware their relationship would end in such unconventional fashion.
While Turner continued to succeed as a young pro with the Pads, ranking as Baseball America’s 65th-best prospect prior to 2015, the club parted with him that year. Actually, though, San Diego agreed to trade Turner in December 2014 in a three-team blockbuster that also involved the Rays and Nats and. The Padres received outfielder Wil Myers, pitchers Gerardo Reyes and Jose Castillo, and catcher Ryan Hanigan. The Rays acquired first baseman Jake Bauers, righty Burch Smith, outfielder Steven Souza Jr., catcher Rene Rivera and lefty Travis Ott. The Nationals picked up righty Joe Ross and a player to be named later. Ross showed flashes at the beginning of his Nats tenure, but injuries have helped knock him off course in recent years. On the other hand, the PTBNL, Turner, has been a gem.
Although the Padres and Rays had a handshake agreement in regards to Turner, they weren’t allowed to make it official for a while because of previous MLB rules. The league formerly had a system in place that barred teams from trading anyone who wasn’t a year removed from being drafted. So, because Turner didn’t meet that requirement, he had to spend several more months with the Padres, even though he knew he wasn’t really a member of the team. Turner’s agent, Jeff Berry, suggested he’d fight the setup. In the end, however, Turner didn’t officially change hands until June 2015 – one month after the league instituted new rules to stop something similar from taking place.
To the Padres’ credit, they treated Turner well during his waning months with the club. Turner had to go to Padres spring training and play in the minors as part of the franchise as he waited for the finalization of the trade, and he complimented the team on multiple occasions during that period.
Unfortunately for San Diego, it hasn’t gotten nearly enough out of this trade in hindsight. Turner, after all, has clearly become the top player in this massive swap. Myers had an All-Star season in 2016, which persuaded the Padres to hand him a six-year, $83MM extension, but he has fallen off since then and is now someone they’d like to remove from their books. Reyes had a rough go in his MLB debut last season (7.62 ERA), though he did amass 38 strikeouts in 26 innings. Castillo performed well as a rookie two years ago, but injuries wrecked his 2019. Unlike those three, Hanigan never even played for the Padres, who quickly flipped him to the Red Sox for third baseman Will Middlebrooks. Although Middlebrooks did pile up 270 PA as a Padre in 2015, he was just a .212/.241/.361 hitter then.
It’s fair to say this deal will not go down as a shining moment for Padres general manager A.J. Preller. Conversely, it’s one of the many feathers in the cap of GM Mike Rizzo and the Nationals, for whom a one-time player to be named later helped to a championship several months back.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I don’t want to talk about it.
I was going to say but your comment says it all.
I thought that was a terrible trade for the Padres as soon as it happened.
Well the Jury is still out on Meyers Career but the Pads did jump a little soon at the 6 year deal…
But lets also remember how many teams were finding religion relative to young players and prospects. This is how we got to the point where a veteran who is supposed to be able to Cash in during his free agency is less valued for his performance that a prospect is for his POTENTIAL performance
really!! did you have a crystal ball or something
at least you got tatis in exchange for a used ashtray
That ashtray has 35 million in it tho.
That 2011 draft could have been franchise altering if the Pirates developed Cole and Glasnow right. They chose them, but also Josh Bell, and Turner.
Pirates took a huge risk on Josh Bell and paid for it.
The game plan his family put together to negotiate a contract was brilliant. Because of MLB’s new rules can no longer be done
But the Pirates did have a decent draft and really had things going.
I still liked their team in 2018 and what they had on the field but the fans didn’t show up so the front office had to make it look like they were competing and traded for Archer.
Hopefully your new GM and his staff can get you back to competing. Pittsburgh is such a solid baseball city and deserves a winner.
Just one of Preller’s many moves that were bordering on negligence.
He traded a dude who just got drafted and got 2 decent players back
That’s short-sighted. Also, the only player the Padres got in that trade who I would call “decent” is Jose Castillo and even then, only if he can stay off the IL.
I’d say more like time will tell, Renfore and a few others who’ll never hit above .250 for Pham and Croneworth I’ll take that deal, score one for AJ. Tatis score another for AJ. Yates score another for AJ our farm system second best in baseball score
Great talent. Will see if he can stay healthy long term.
He already has stayed healthy long-term. How many days in his entire professional career has he spent on the DL/IL due to non-HBP related injuries?
Technically twice and over 100 games: a pulled hamstring and a broken finger from an attempted bunt (which was not a HBP, it was a result of him not knowing how to hold a bat when you bunt)
@Ry.the.Stunner and All American Johnsonville Dogs…
The pulled hamstring only kept him out for 11 games. He hit for the cycle in his first week back. So clearly it didn’t affect his performance and it hasn’t bothered him in the 3 years since.
On the broken finger, I’m not here to argue semantics with you. It was a HBP. A freak injury. Not a chronic recurring one.
Trea Turner has stayed healthy long-term. Deal with it.
Ry proved you wrong. Accept it and move on with your life.
The problem with that is he didn’t.
See Ry’s comment.
That’s what I thought idiot.
Trea Turner is not injury prone. Worst case scenario he is HBP prone.
Still laugh when I remember him calling out joe torre in game 7
Interesting to think that if this trade hasn’t happened, the DBacks/Braves Shelby Miller trade likely doesn’t happen either. The league changed the rule in 2015 to prevent Trea Turner’s situation from happening again, and Dansby Swanson was the first 2015 draftee to be traded under the new rule. I wonder if Arizona would have still acquired Miller, and if so, who would have replaced Swanson in the deal if he hadn’t been eligible to be traded? Would Swanson have been a PTBNL himself? What ifs are fun sometimes
It’s my understanding that before the rule change, including a guy as a PTBNL in a trade that was agreed upon before he was eligible to be traded for the purpose of bypassing that rule wasn’t all that uncommon (the Padres acquired Brad Wieck in a similar manner on the same day that Trea Turner was finally sent to DC) but until Turner, it had never happened with a first rounder.
That DBACK trade had to be the worst trade in baseball in the last 2 decades, wow the Backs got nothing back the Braves came out like roses
The Padres didn’t do THAT bad with this deal. Myers is overpaid, but aside from 2019, he has been somewhat productive. He has accumulated 8.5 bWAR as a Padre. That’s not great, but it’s not awful either. The real losers of this 3 way was the Rays. The 3 key players in the deal were Turner, Myers, and Souza. Steven Souza is undoubtedly the weak link of that group.
The Rays traded Bauers to get Diaz they did well
Souza is better than Myers and the Padres lost Trea Turner in the trade. The Padres are the REAL losers of that trade.
Your saying Souza is better than Myers, you better go back to school and read the stats, glad your not our GM
Preller and Eppler the worst GM’s in all of baseball. Jon Daniels not far behind either. Preller and Eppler have done ZERO. Daniels has rose the coattails of Nolan Ryan’s build job.
I’d say more like time will tell, Renfore and a few others who’ll never hit above .250 for Pham and Croneworth I’ll take that deal, score one for AJ. Tatis score another for AJ. Yates score another for AJ our farm system second best in baseball score another for AJ
No idea what Preller was thinking that one year where he acted like the Padres were contenders then quickly pivoted back to rebuilding.
What a full 162 game season healthy Trea Turner year might look like…
Makes me moist
PLEASE STOP YOUR DISGUSTING
One of the few trades the Rays completely missed on.
They traded Bauers for Diaz they did well
Yuo you gotta look at what they flipped before you evaluate…
Once again when discussing trades of the past most forget the fourth dimension- time… AKA context.
At the time of the trase Meyers was one of the top developing MLB outfielders He was sought after by more than just the Padres. Similarly Souza was coming off of a season that ended with a no hit saving catch with two outs in the ninth. He was also considered a high upside player. Mighty Joe Ross had been showing flashes with the Padres but had a major issue with control. Granted he was improving. But most look back in hindsight and think that the Turner end of the trade should have commanded more return. WHile this may be correct in a vacuum it is not as true given the mandatory delay the rues at the time demanded..
In short ((to paraphrase Peter O’Toole in the Movie “Creator”) You’ve got to look at the BIG picture
The guy in the trade who is injury prone is Joe Ross. Not Trea Turner. No one who follows the Nationals – or any members of the local DC media – has branded Trea Turner as “injury prone”. Is Ryan Zimmerman injury prone? Yes, absolutely. Looking at Turner’s college & pro career there’s no trend suggesting injury. Sadly a few petulent Padres are bitter over getting swindled in that trade. Heart bleeds for ya.
The good news about Ross is that he appears to have turned the corner a bit on the injuries. I like Mighty Joe but he has just not quite harnessed his talent yet. He needs a couple of full seasons to get their. The injurers have certainly delayed that but he is not write off right now. He did look like a potential deadline trade chip this year though
Why do you think the Rays have focused on trading with the Padres?
Hotcorner, I’d say more like time will tell, Renfore and a few others who’ll never hit above .250 for Pham and Croneworth I’ll take that deal, score one for AJ. Tatis score another for AJ. Yates score another for AJ our farm system second best in baseball score another for AJ.