Miami Marlins made an offer to Justin Turner

Do you remember when I wrote about the Miami Marlins pursuing a new third baseman? Well, The Fish have now made a “competitive offer” to Justin Turner based on a new report from the Miami Herald’s Craig Mish. Wow. Instead of pursuing actual help for the lineup, we’re basically going after past their prime veterans that are unlikely to move the needle. There are better free agents that Kim Ng needs to focus on instead. It doesn’t seem as if she has enough financial backing to do that however.

The Miami Marlins are “dumpster-diving” for offensive upgrades.

This is definitely not the news that I wanted to report. Justin Turner was a big deal a few years back. In fact, he used to be a star. He actually broke out with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016 at the age of 31. In 2016, Turner batted .275/.339/.493 with 27 home runs and 90 RBI. In 2017, he followed that up with a .322/.415/.530 batting line, along with 21 home runs and 71 RBI. In 2018, the third baseman batted .312/.406/.518 and in 2019 he batted .290/.372/.509 with 27 home runs and 67 RBI on top of that. It’s safe to say that he was useful back in the day.

2020 was a shortened season and so Turner batted .307/.400/.460. 2021 saw Justin bat .278/.361/.471 with 27 home runs and 87 RBI, but the 2022 season was a big disappointment. Justin Turner batted .278/.350/.438 with 13 home runs and 81 RBI. He is now 38 years old and doesn’t seem likely to be able to consistently provide good defense at the hot corner. Turner’s Exit Velocity dropped from 90.9 last season to 89.5 this season as well. None of that bodes well got an acquiring team.

Is it any wonder that the Los Angeles Dodgers simply declined their $16 million player option on him for next season? So, what is his market? It does appear that there are several teams interested in his services. It also seems likely that ge will get at least a 1 year deal at$10 million or so. He may even be able to stretch it to 2 years/$26 million or so. Is ge going to help our lineup? Maybe. Is he the bat that we need? Not even close.