Dodgers 3B Turner announces he’s staying put
Justin Turner announced Saturday that he will remain with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and sources told ESPN the deal is for…
Third baseman Justin Turner is staying put with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he announced Saturday on Twitter.
Turner’s deal is for two years and more than $30 million, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Lettts gooo run it back @Dodgers fans!!! @vaynersports @vaynerbaseball pic.twitter.com/fRY0pvyWMx
— Justin Turner (@redturn2) February 14, 2021
Turner, 36, became a free agent when his $64 million, four-year contract expired following the Dodgers’ World Series victory in October.
Turner was a journeyman for the first half of his major league career. He was non-tendered by the New York Mets in December 2013, went unsigned for the next two months, then agreed to a minor league contract with the Dodgers. At 29, he began to establish himself among the game’s most productive third basemen.
Turner batted .297/.378/.508 from 2015 to 2019, accumulating 105 homers, 147 doubles and 21.9 FanGraphs wins above replacement in 645 regular-season games. He made an All-Star team, finished within the top 10 in National League MVP voting on two occasions and set the tone for the Dodgers’ hitting philosophy as their most consistent performer.
Along the way, Turner contributed several memorable postseason moments, most notably his walk-off home run against the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 of the 2017 NL Championship Series. According to ESPN Stats and Information, he ranks first in Dodgers postseason history in hits (79), home runs (12), runs (40) and RBI (41).
His crowning achievement finally came this year, when Turner — a lifelong Dodgers fan who grew up in Lakewood, California, and identifies Kirk Gibson’s famous pinch-hit home run as his first baseball memory — helped lead the franchise to its first championship in more than 30 years.
Turner posted a 1.066 OPS in six World Series games against the Tampa Bay Rays, but his career highlight became tarnished after Major League Baseball informed the Dodgers in the late stages of an eventual clincher that Turner had tested positive for COVID-19.
Turner, the Dodgers’ player rep, was removed to begin the eighth inning and wasn’t on the field to celebrate the final out. But he broke protocol and re-entered the field to take pictures with the World Series trophy and was seen around teammates without a mask, drawing the ire of MLB officials and rampant criticism from people throughout the country. MLB ultimately decided not to discipline him.
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez contributed to this report.
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