Apr 1, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Texas Rangers designated hitter Adolis Garcia (53) runs the bases after hitting a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Seattle trades for another established hitter, adding Justin Turner from the Blue Jays after dealing Ty France away.
Another veteran lengthens the lineup.
The Seattle Mariners have reportedly acquired veteran 1B/DH/“3B” Justin Turner from the Toronto Blue Jays. In exchange, they’re sending minor league OF RJ Schreck to Toronto, and will be taking on the rest of the Turner’s $6.7 million remaining due to him this season. This move follows the official end of the Ty France era, as Seattle sent the 1B to the Cincinnati Reds along with around $1 million of the $2 million still due to him in exchange for minor league C Andruw Salcedo.
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Turner’s acquisition represents the second player of relative high profile – or at least name recognition – at this deadline, following OF Randy Arozarena. The 39 year old is no longer a middle of the order star as he was for nearly a decade with the Dodgers, however he’s continued to be a potent OBP presence, striking out sparingly and swinging and missing even less so. Turner’s power heyday had him cracking mid-20 homers while running high walk rates and batting averages, but he’s finally hitting a wall, or more accurately the warning track, with a mere .117 ISO this season and a home run pace to scrape double digits. Seattle buying Turner over France is banking on
Turner’s reputation within the sport as a two-time All-Star, playoff performer, and World Series champion, as well as a limited profile that nonetheless relies on plate discipline more than getting pelted by pitches. More to the point, like Arozarena, Turner works pitchers to the bone, something Seattle values more than many clubs.
would also add that Turner just makes SEA more of a pain to pitch to, which is sorta abstract but one objective measure of that is pitches per PA, and Turner indeed ranks 2nd in MLB
more intriguing is who else is near the top of that leaderboard who I might not have expected https://t.co/jGfSSFhYbo pic.twitter.com/OKIddAvhtm
— Jordan Shusterman (@j_shusterman_) July 29, 2024
The cost is Schreck, whose standout performance with the High-A Everett AquaSox was impressive, as the Vandy product’s advanced approach was not heavily tested by Northwest League pitching following years of SEC testing. He lofts the ball well and can handle corner outfield duties, and he’s
got the potential to be a bench bat, but the cost is largely simply being willing to pay his salary. Salcedo as a return for France is a depth move, largely replacing the outgoing Jacob Sharp.
This move does not preclude another large improvement, however it does likely indicate the Blue Jays are highly unlikely to move Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette and Seattle is uninterested in being left hanging with nothing. Turner should be able to join the club in Boston tomorrow. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly:
