The Mets have been engaged with representatives for free agent corner infielder Justin Turner, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post. They join the Diamondbacks and incumbent Red Sox among the teams known to be in the mix for the 39-year-old.
Turner spent three and a half seasons in Queens over a decade ago. At the time, he looked like a versatile but unexceptional infielder. After hitting .265/.326/.370 as a Met, Turner caught on with the Dodgers for the 2014 campaign. That change of scenery and an overhauled swing launched Turner to stardom. He raked at a .296/.375/.490 clip in nine seasons with Los Angeles before signing with Boston an offseason ago.
Despite his age, Turner remains a very good hitter. In 626 plate appearances, he hit .276/.345/.455 with 23 home runs. Turner kept his strikeout percentage to a modest 17.6% clip with solid power and plate discipline. The righty-hitting Turner had dramatic platoon splits last season, particularly from a slugging perspective, but he traditionally fares as well or better against same-handed pitching.
While Turner hasn’t shown many signs of decline in the batter’s box, his defensive responsibilities have waned. In his final season as a Dodger, he spent an equal amount of time at third base and designated hitter. Turner didn’t see much defensive work in Boston, starting 98 times at DH. He manned the hot corner on seven occasions, picked up four starts at second, and opened 35 contests at first base. That’s in part because the Sox have Rafael Devers and Triston Casas at the infield corners. Yet it’s also a question how heavy a defensive workload Turner can handle at this stage of his career.
That shouldn’t be a concern for the Mets. Turner wouldn’t see much first base action barring an injury to Pete Alonso. New York doesn’t have proven solutions at third base or DH, however. Young hitters Brett Baty and Mark Vientos project as the respective starters. Both are formerly well-regarded prospects, yet neither has produced at the big league level thus far.
President of baseball operations David Stearns said at the Winter Meetings that the Mets weren’t looking for a third baseman. That preceded an unfortunate ACL tear for young infielder Ronny Mauricio, who’d seemed a strong candidate for the third base job before his winter ball injury. Whether that changes the calculus for Stearns and the front office isn’t clear, although Turner could fit at DH even if the Mets wanted to give Baty the hot corner.
MLBTR predicted a one-year, $16MM contract for Turner. The Mets have made clear their primary focus is the 2025 campaign, but they’re not prepared to concede the ’24 season. There’s a need for at least one middle-of-the-order offensive presence in addition to the rotation questions that have been the organization’s focus so far.
Billy Eppler told Scherzer 2025 was a priority to get him to waive the no trade
Every move the Mets made so far makes it seem like they are waiting a year. I think they have a great shot at Yamamoto though.
I actually think he may end up in Philly.
If that happens, I’ll cut off and throw my pen15 in to traffic. I’m banking on Yamamoto.
Make sure that your knife is really sharp.
If it’s dull, it’s gonna hurt a whole lot more!
@DaO,
That’s a big commitment. I hope it works out for you with the pen15 and the traffic and all that.
Nah I don’t see him on the East Coast. My guess would be the Giants with the Mariners as a dark horse. I guess the Mets could throw a crazy contract at him but at this point why bother with Japanese crossovers? Seems like every one of them comes over, signs a big contract, pitches like Cy Young for a couple of months then goes down for the rest of the year and most of the next with TJS. MLB needs to seriously adopt the Japanese approach to pitching. You rarely see TJS happen over there. The starters go long into games like they used to here but only pitch once a week. 6 man rotations definitely seem like the way to go.
Considering the Mets traded him if he returns to them that would be like getting back with an ex that has had 6 C-sections
@Shadow_Banned,
Mets didn’t trade Turner. They non-tendered him.
Plus everybody involved in that is long gone.
Same team that non rendered him, lol that’s the Mets.
Stearns & co probably putting out feelers to many FA bats. Would be a fine 1 yr stop gap for 3B/DH and occasionally spell Alonso @ 1B. The vocal NYM critics on here might rage but his offensive stats are better than a good deal of what NYM had last season.
Right Turner’s consistency is EXACTLY what the up and down, streaky Mets lineup needs.
They desperately need some veteran leadership, a proven winner, and someone that can steady out that lineup when their hitters go through their slumps.
If they were smart, which I’ve ran across a few intelligent ones, they’d absolutely LOVE signing Turner.
He led the Red Sox to last place, so there’s that.
You can put the blame on him, baseballteam.
a 39 year old ANYTHING is the LAST thing this team needs!
Why block Baty to put a -15 fielder at 3B when you can do that with Baty while giving him a chance to develop?
Why would you sign Turner to DH and block one or both of Baty and Vientos from getting PA there, when either or both have a chance of being actually good on the next good Mets team (probably 2026 at the earliest)?
Because they’ll have Vientos at 1b.
@raisinsss Ah—you have me there, sir.
Still, betting on the tender consciousness of Mark Anthony Vientos to survive the pressure of replacing Home Run Derby Champ and Dugout Rail Humper “Putzel Pete” Alonso is a rough wager indeed.
I’m Stearns I might have signed Bellinger, dealt Alonso, and effectively gotten Bellinger’s first season free in the sense that his salary is about the worth of the 50 FV prospect the Mets would have gotten for Petey.
Let Vientos DH full time and if he can cut it move Bellinger to CF in 2025, shift Nimmo to LF, and move Vientos to 1B after he’s had a year of regular reps at first in daily practice sessions under the tutelage of the best fielding coach Cohen’s money can buy plus the occasional session with the greatest fielding 1Bman of all time, in Keith.
This is an entirely reasonable plan that I would support.
That said, there are a few reasonable plans still open to them depending on Yama.
It’s wonderful to think that what the Mets really need to do is continue to block .925 OPS hitters in AAA from getting PA in MLB—and during a lost season no less, in order to spend $16m on a guy who has zero relevance to the next good Mets team, except to the extent that he impedes its coming about.
What’s one year of Justin Turner for that much going to do for the Mets? It doesn’t seem like they’re planning on contending, so play the young guys in this weird transition year and see what they can do.
They are planning to contend
I thought Eppler said 2024 was a transition year? Even if it was the old GM, the moves were made in 2023 with that as the framework.
@CantShadow
Mets have offered mixed messaging this offseason. But basically, they want to compete for the playoffs in 2024 but aren’t going to spend like drunken sailors on what doesn’t make sense long term. Nor will they trade the meat and potatoes of the farm. They want to compete long term, year after year for title which really begins in 2025 or 2026 as high upside prospects reach the majors. They view the farm as the mechanism to replenish players long term, but will sign the right free agent or make select trades that fit their goals.
If they’re planning to contend Justin Turner is NOT the best way to spend $16 million.
If they’re not foolish and they seek to contend in 2024 after signing Yamamoto, then they’re going to live with Baty at 3B and Vientos at DH, and spend $100m+ on starting pitching, the bullpen, and on a starting-caliber OFer.
$16m to Turner would be idiocy in that context. He’s not a 3Bman any more, in any case. Brett Baty as bad as he is will be a better 3Bman in 2024 than 39 yo Justin Turner.
they need a DH and an experienced third baseman so he’s perfect. another home run hitter in the lineup and a seasoned veteran to help the young players at third
They need neither.
I don’t think they’ve finalized the decision on whether to contend or not. Yamamoto’s decision, and what other pitcher(s) they might get could move the needle on what they do.
That said, they plan on playing the young guys at 3rd. But the Mets still need a decent DH. And its still plausible that both baty and Vientos turn out to be inadequate or simply not major-league-ready, each in their own way.
@geofft They might, but you don’t spend $16m on a DH and emergency corner guy when you have Baty, Vientos, and the rest of the team to rotate through DH, when you have so many other huge holes to fill.
It would be an absurd waste of money and it makes me wonder whether Stearns is up to this.
Think about all the holes on this team, and think whether $16m to a DH when you have two guys who should be reasonably capable of DH’ing on the roster already.
$16m on insurance you may well not need?
$16m on one of the worst 3Bmen in baseball at this point in his career, who’s already 39?
I believe Pete will be traded if they don’t get Yamamoto. Vientos to 1b. Turner as a DH/3b who can be moved at the deadline if they’re not in it.
@raisinsss I did gather you were leaning that way from your post up above this one.
It certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea, given what Alonso appears to be looking for. Maybe Colorado will give him the 7/200m he’s seeking?
Thing is, if they don’t get Yama, and they trade Alonso, they’re surely not contending. It wouldn’t make any sense at all to try—they’re currently a 68-70 win team that would have to spend about $120m in FA to shoot for 85 wins, and they’d be saddling the team mostly with players over 30, where for those players to be good enough to form a contender you’d have to sign most of them to multiple season deals, which only puts the team even more painfully on the FA treadmill.
And since they wouldn’t be contending, why wouldn’t you give Baty 600 PA at 3B while you’re turning 1B over to Vientos?
There just isn’t any scenario, sign Yama, don’t sign him, where Turner makes any sense. Even Boston acknowledged he couldn’t play 3B any more. He’s almost 40.
He would DH, “mentor”, and be flipped at the deadline. That’s my scenario.
Same would be true for JD. Plus old man Turner “could” play a few at 3B.
A ps to my above: this sees DJ Stewart seeing regular reps in the OF. Dude killed the tank. I’ll never forgive him.
(Unless his .825 ops is real and he continues it indefinitely)
You have to fill 10 positions times 1458 innings, we need all we got plus 2-3 more. Turner is a perfect fit.
JT is an awesome clubhouse guy and a solid ballplayer. Your team will be lucky to have him if he decides to play there. Won’t move the needle as far as winning at 39, but can help young players learn to be professionals and be a leader in the clubhouse.
Turner is the best!! Any team and fan base would be happy to have him. And he is clutch in the postseason.
I wish he would resign with the Sox, he is solid
He’s not coming back to the Red Sox. There’s nowhere to play him.
He is probably looking for 2 years/$32M. If they just want one year stop gaps, not sure that makes sense.
The Angels should sign him for the DH and occasional 3B when Nato gets injured.
Angels have Drury, who should be the everyday 3B with Rengifo at 2B and Neto at SS. 1B should be some type of platoon with Schanuel and Evan White. Rendon should DH with Trout getting one or two starts per week there as well
We never received a final tally as to how many lives were lost as a result of Turner coming onto the field to celebrate the team’s victory. Perhaps the count is ongoing.
When did the Mets ever say they were throwing 2024 away?
When they convinced everyone to waive their no-trade clauses.
The Mets will still contend but the starting pitching after Senga is iffy (can Severino and Quintana be counted on for the whole season?). The bullpen should be better with Diaz coming back. The lineup has to be better by the simple fact Vogelbach won’t be taking 300 trips to the plate
Why can’t Quintana be counted on for a whole season? Never had arm issues in his career.
No but he has had other injury issues and performance issues
Turner would be an excellent pickup on the field and in the dugout
If they sign Yamamoto, they’re going for it in 2024 (meaning a median expectancy of 84-85 wins).
If not, they won’t.
Fwiw their need for pitching will be no less present in 2025 if they don’t sign Yamamoto.
Nor will they have a significant number of successful young position players with meaningful MLB production under their belts prior to 2026. Acuna’s one example. A .630 OPS+ in Binghamton, he’ll play the first half in AA in 2024, the second half in AAA (if he’s doing well, and because that’s how the Mets do things.) Then he’ll go into 2025 with a shot at being a regular. Maybe a cup of coffee but nothing more than that.
But the Mets won’t be spending huge amounts of money on aging pitching just because Acuna et al have good years in AAA in 2024, if indeed they do, any more than they bet big on Baty and Vientos to succeed in 2023.
“Yeah, let’s throw $16m at Justin Turner as the Mets insurance policy at DH, so he can sit there until and if Baty and Vientos fail, because the Mets don’t have any other spots to fill if they want to contend except 110 starts, 350 relief innings including two very good setup men, a starting LFer, a legitimate 4th OFer, a serious backup IFer, a serious backup catcher… but, sure, let’s get Turner instead because he’s a good clubhouse guy and we wouldn’t want to give Baty or Vientos, both with .925+ OPS’s in AAA, any sort of chance to succeed when we can block them by spending money desperately needed elsewhere—-short of $420 million payroll. Plus taxes..”
In just 400 innings in the field Turner was -10 runs by DRS, and most of that was at the easier position of 1B—so forget the idea that he’ll be anything more than an emergency 3Bman.
Meh. More like Justine Turner. Amirite?
Mets are about 8 years late on seeing value in Justin Turner
But not too late to make another mistake by signing him and keeping them from finding out if Baty or Vientos are MLB DHs.
As for the idea that Justine can still play 3B, sweet feckin’ jaysus.
“But he’s so good in the clubhouse!!”.
He actually might get a lot of reps at 2nd with Mauricio out and McNeil playing left field.
Oh, crap.
Turner only makes ANY sense if he’s their insurance policy at 1B and DH after they trade Alonso so that if Vientos is horrible they have someone on the roster who can fake 1B when they move Vientos to DH-only.
Even the Mets aren’t stupid enough to play Turner at 3B (-4 OAA in 57 innings in 2023!!) over Baty, at least not for the first two months of the season and until Baty plays himself out of any chance of succeeding there.
Because a 39 year old player is EXACTLY what the Mets need right now.
Justin Turner was one of the only bright spots on the Redsox last year. A clutch hitter, always positive, great guy for the youngsters to follow. I’d take him back in a heartbeat. While he is mostly a DH, he can play the occasional 1B-3B. A solid veteran!
Turner may be overestimating his current value.