Free agent third baseman Justin Turner has introduced that he shall be returning to the World Sequence champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Turner shared the information in a tweet Saturday night time. According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the deal is for two-years and value $34 million.
There’s a membership possibility for a 3rd season, and the deal is pending a bodily, Rosenthal notes. Turner’s contract is the biggest assure for a free-agent place participant 36 or older in first yr of deal since Victor Martinez’s four-year, $68 million contract with the Detroit Tigers in 2014, Rosenthal adds.
Coming into the offseason, we ranked Turner No. 7 amongst the top 60 free agents, and he was the best ranked participant left on the board with just some weeks till spring coaching formally begins.
Turner, 36, has been a mainstay with the Dodgers since he signed with the membership as a free agent in 2014. He fared nicely within the abbreviated 2020 season, slashing .307/.400/.460 with 4 residence runs, 9 doubles and 23 RBI in 175 plate appearances. He acquired curiosity from the Brewers, Mets and Blue Jays, amongst different groups this offseason.
Turner has seen his offensive manufacturing drop ever so barely the final two years, and accidents restricted him to 410 of 546 potential video games from 2017-20, or 75 p.c. Nonetheless, he nonetheless figures to stay an asset together with his bat and glove, at the least within the near-term.
We’d be remiss if we did not point out that in Recreation 6 of the World Sequence, Turner returned to the field after learning that he had tested positive for COVID-19, leaving his mandated isolation. Regardless of the irresponsible and doubtlessly dangerous resolution, it doesn’t look like this factored into the Dodgers’ resolution to convey Turner again. In actual fact, it was Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman who defended Turner’s actions.
Main League Baseball completed its investigation into Turner’s Game 6 behavior, and each Turner and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred each issued statements as a part of the investigation’s wrap-up. No punishment, be it a suspension or effective, was talked about within the league’s official launch.
The Dodgers will look to repeat as World Sequence champions within the 2021 MLB season. Whereas the defending champs did not want loads of upgrades this winter, however they nonetheless went out and signed the best available free agent starter in Trevor Bauer. Though, they did lose outfielder Joc Pederson, utilityman Enrique Hernandez, and reliever Pedro Baez in free company, and can face steep competitors from their division rival San Diego Padres this yr.
