WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 25: Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 in Washington, District of Columbia. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Los Angeles Dodgers have earned the right to call themselves a Major League Baseball dynasty after their back-to-back World Series victories gave them three championships in the last five years.
But that dynasty was kicked off by several players who have moved onto new teams. Of all the players on the team’s latest championship roster, only a handful, including Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts, Kike Hernandez, Will Smith and Max Muncy, were on the 2020 championship team.
Several key players from that pandemic-shortened championship campaign have moved on to other clubs. Cody Bellinger just wrapped up a resurgent campaign with the New York Yankees. Corey Seager went on to win a World Series championship with the Texas Rangers.
And Justin Turner, who led the Dodgers in slugging percentage in the 2020 World Series, has played on four different teams since then.
After nine seasons with the Dodgers, which included two All-Star seasons and three years of Most Valuable Player Award votes, Turner moved on to the Boston Red Sox, then the Toronto Blue Jays, then the Seattle Mariners. This past season, the 40-year-old played for the Chicago Cubs in a harsh campaign that seemed to expose his diminished prowess at the plate.
Turner slashed just .219/.288/.314, lows across the board since he became an everyday MLB player in 2011, before becoming a free agent once again at the season’s end. And while exiting the Cubs after that kind of season might have pushed some players to retire, Turner has announced that he will continue his career.
“Free agent Justin Turner plans to play in 2026,” MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Turner, who turns 41 this month, posted a .759 OPS against left-handed pitching for the Cubs this year.”
Turner’s relative production against southpaws could make him a viable platoon option for a team that wants to benefit from his veteran leadership. But it seems doubtful that he could earn more than just one more year in the big leagues given his regression this past season.
“Based on Turner’s age and last year’s lack of production, anything more than a modest one-year deal seems unreasonable,” Steve Adams wrote for MLB Trade Rumors. “Turner’s one-year deal with the Cubs paid him a guaranteed $6MM, and he’ll almost certainly need to take a pay cut on that sum.”
Turner might no longer be the All-Star he once was at the plate, but Dodgers fans will remember that he accrued plenty of valuable experience as their dynasty kicked off.