Red Sox “look close” to signing Justin Turner

5:26 p.m: Turner will earn $14 million in 2023, Hyman reportsand a 2024 player option worth $8 million.

4:54 p.mThe Red Sox have agreed to a player deal Justin TurnerAccording to ESPN’s Jon Lee and Jeff Bassin (Twitter links). The two-year contract will pay Turner just under $22 million, and Turner can opt out of the deal after the 2023 season. Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter links) reported earlier today that Turner and the Sox were “coming closer” to a contract, and that Boston was going after Turner “incredibly”. Fantrax’s Michael Marino mentioned Yesterday that Turner and the Sox were in talks. Turner represents Finer Sports.

The Marlins, Diamondbacks, Twins, and Dodgers are the other teams publicly known to have some interest in Turner, and Miami made Turner. Show earlier this week. Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald called the Marlins’ offer “competitive”, and although the exact details of the offer were not known, Hyman Books that the Marlins seemed willing to give Turner the multi-year deal he is seeking in free agency.

Turner (who is entering his 38-year-old season) found this multi-year deal, albeit with a significant drop in average annual value from the $17 million he earned in his previous two-year deal with the Dodgers. MLBTR projected Turner for one year only guaranteed, but for $14 million. It is not known yet that the new contract has collapsed from year to year, and the opt-out may indicate that the Turner camp may view this deal primarily as a one-year agreement, with an eye to a larger multi-year contract after that on the heels of a big platform year in Fenway Park.

However, it wasn’t as if Turner wasn’t done in 2022, posting a solid 123 wRC after hitting .278/.350/.438 with 13 homers over 532 plate appearances with the Dodgers. However, given how throw-away Turner’s usual off-season routine was lockouts and shortened spring training, he might well imagine he could have gotten there a lot better if not for a very slow start. Turner only had a 0.611 OPS over his first 243 PA of the year, but then went on fire with a 0.940 OPS over his last 289 PA.

Despite this production and Turner’s long record of success over nine seasons in Los Angeles, he picked the Dodgers in decline The club has a $16 million option on Turner for 2023, rather than buying him for $2 million. The move was apparently made to give the Dodgers some extra flexibility with regard to salary scales and deluxe tax status, as the Dodgers could use either Max MuncieAnd the Chris Tayloror possibility Miguel Vargas At third base. While President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman has repeatedly stated that the door remains open for a potential reunion with Turner, the Dodgers team. Signature From JD Martinez Yesterday seemed to hint that Los Angeles had moved on.

As it turns out, the Dodgers and Red Sox will unofficially trade veteran hitters, with Martinez headed to Los Angeles and Turner coming to Boston. Turner brings more defensive utility than Martinez, as Turner still saw a great deal of action at third base last season, primarily splitting his time between third and DH. Rafael Devers Of course he has priority in the Boston hot corner, but the Red Sox can now use Turner at third base when Devers (a second-rate fullback) is given his own DH day. Turner hasn’t played first base since 2016, but it’s also possible he could get some time in the cold corner as a right-handed batter complementing the rookie. Triston Casas.

Xander BogaertsThe Padres’ departure has led to a lot of hard feelings from the ownership-oriented Red Sox Nation and baseball hitter Chaim Bloom. Although Bogaerts is certainly a huge loss, Bloom’s plan is to fill the void with multiple players, as Bloom did. advertiser He wants to add approximately 7-9 new faces to the list. This long list of needs was partially filled by Turner, Masataka Yoshidaand painkillers Kenley JansenAnd the Chris MartinAnd the Julie Rodriguez.

It might seem like hitting, catching, and pitching staying put is on Bloom’s checklist, given the other players the Red Sox have scored at least this winter. But with Turner, the club solidified the corner/DH combination that Boston first sought to address by pushing for Jose Abreubefore Abreu signed with the Astros. The Red Sox provided some space at first base by design Eric Hosmer to hire earlier this week, and even though Hosmer was essentially a free player because the Padres were covering nearly all of his remaining salary, the Sox were looking for a more productive batter, or at least to make way firmly for Casas. .

After crossing the luxury tax threshold in 2022, the Red Sox have hitherto so far Much less Threshold of $233 million. That leaves Bloom some opportunity to possibly stay below the tax line, though since Bloom and the ownership were willing to pay the tax even if he was somewhat away in a playoff berth last year, one can imagine the Red Sox wouldn’t balk at that. Pay another tax penalty on the right upside. Many of the offseason’s best free agents have already come off the plate, but the Sox can still pursue other promotions in the commercial market.

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