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Milwaukee Brewers: 3 Free Agent Third Baseman Targets

By Kenny Jilek

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 27: Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after flying out against the Tampa Bay Rays during the sixth inning in Game Six of the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field on October 27, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 27: Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after flying out against the Tampa Bay Rays during the sixth inning in Game Six of the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field on October 27, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Brewers
Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers free agent target (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Big Name: Justin Turner

A Justin Turner signing may be the best-case scenario for the Milwaukee Brewers this offseason. If guys like Keston Hiura and Christian Yelich get back to form, that trio going 2,3,4 in the lineup is one of the scariest in the entire MLB.

If you check out Justin Turner’s Baseball Savant page, you can instantly tell he’s one of the best hitters in the league because of all the red everywhere denoting well-above-average rankings in many advanced stats. In 2020, he was in the top 7 percent in the league in expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, and expected weighted on-base average. It wasn’t just because of the shortened season either. He’s been top five percent in all of those categories multiple times before.

If you’re not really into advanced stats, he’s got plenty of traditional metrics to show his dominance too. In his seven seasons with the Dodgers, he possesses a slash line of .302/.382/.469. How he’s only made one All-Star team while hitting around .300 with big power every season is beyond me.

Earlier in his career, he was leaner and had more positional versatility, but now he’s pretty much just a third baseman. Even so, he’s a really good one. He has an above-average .966 fielding percentage at third base, and he has averaged eight zone runs above average and four runs saved above average per year in his career. The Brewers like to experiment with guys at first base, and while he’s played 238 innings there in his career, he hasn’t done it consistently since his days on the Mets. They’ll explore all his positional options, but he’s likely best suited to play every day at third.

This may seem like an impossible dream signing, but this could be the exact kind of contract that David Stearns looks for. In 2018, Yasmani Grandal seemed like a far off possibility, but he came here on a one-year deal, and a similar situation could play out with Turner. He hit a few soul-crushing home runs in the 2018 NLCS against Milwaukee; maybe it’s time he does it on our side.

What do you think of these three third baseman options for the Milwaukee Brewers this offseason? Is there anyone else on the market you would like to see them sign? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @DairylandXpress.

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