Milwaukee Brewers “Still in Play” for 3B Justin Turner

In the last week there have been several rumors linked to the Milwaukee Brewers, but on Wednesday, we finally saw them make a move with the reported signing of second baseman Kolten Wong to a two-year $18 million deal with a club option for year three.

Many assume that this will be the biggest offseason acquisition for the Brewers — myself included — but apparently, they are still in on free agent third baseman Justin Turner.

Fansided’s own, Robert Murray reported on Thursday evening that when it comes to bringing Turner to Milwaukee, the Brewers are “still in play.”

As I said last week when the initial report from Jon Heyman came out that the Brewers were interested in Turner, this is a signing that makes a lot of sense for Milwaukee. They are in need of a more reliable option at third base and could also use some added pop in the lineup, even with the addition of Wong—and Turner would provide both of those things.

Turner has been an L.A. Dodger since the 2014 season and has a .302 average, an OPS of .886, and an OPS+ of 139 during that span. This includes being named to the NL All-Star team in 2017 and finishing top-15 MVP voting from 2016 to 2018.

More recently over the last two seasons, Turner has slashed .294/.378/.498 and recorded an OPS+ of 132.

As I said, Turner would be a great fit. However, there is the whole financial side of things that need to be addressed, and that’s where the issue lies.

Many expect the 36-year-old Turner to re-sign with Los Angeles, but at this point, the two sides can’t agree to terms, or at least they haven’t yet. Realistically, the Milwaukee Brewers have no interest in signing Turner to a multi-year deal—it just wouldn’t work financially.

Rather David Stearns is likely trying to see if he can lure Turner to Milwaukee on a one-year deal with a high average annual value. Similarly to what he did a few seasons ago, acquiring Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas late in free agency.

While Turner would prefer a multi-year deal, in an offseason where many teams are reluctant to spend money or hand out contracts that are more than a year or two long given the financial uncertainty that lies ahead, perhaps a one year deal at the hitter-friendly American Family Field and then hitting free agency again in 2022 is the way to go. Or at least that’s what I imagine Stearns is telling Turner’s agent.

This is all just speculation, of course, and I still believe Turner ends up back in Los Angeles—but we’ve seen Stearns surprise us before.

For now, we will continue playing the waiting game as we wait to see where Turner ends up. But as of yesterday, the Milwaukee Brewers are still in the mix.