Offseason free agency always brings some huge surprises. Witness the Texas Rangers signing ace Jacob deGrom on Friday.
Now comes this surprising report from The Athletic: The San Diego Padres have reportedly met not once, but twice, with free agent shortstop Trea Turner.
That’s surprising for a couple of reasons. First, the Padres already have a talented young shortstop, Fernando Tatis Jr. Although he’s still serving an 80-game suspension for violating MLB’s PED policy, he’s eligible to return April 20. Turner has made roughly 90 career starts at both second base and in the outfield during his career, so perhaps San Diego is thinking along those lines .
Also, Turner is expected to command a long-term contract in the range of $300 million or more. The Padres already have two players in that hefty salary range, Tatis and third baseman Manny Machado. They’re also expected to be seeking a deal well north of that figure with outfielder Juan Soto, who is eligible for free agency after the 2024 season.
Not to say Turner would not be a sweet addition to any team that can afford his asking price. He’s a two-time All-Star with a career slash line of .302/.355/.487. He’s still just 29.
The Philadelphia Phillies are widely viewed as the most likely landing sport for Turner, although there’s a possibility he re-signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s a crazy thought, but what if the Padres are just going through the motions with Turner to drive up the division-rival Dodgers’ cost if they opt to retain the shortstop?
If the Padres do sign Turner, he will have come full circle in his career. San Diego drafted him in the first round of the 2014 MLB June Draft before trading him to the Washington Nationals.
MLB fans on Twitter disagreed on whether Turner and the Padres are a real deal, or even a good idea.
One of the reasons I think there is some fire to the Trea turner to the padres is because they said they had two meetings with him. You take a meeting to hear a pitch. You take a second meeting to talk numbers, and you only do a second meeting if you’re interested
— Nicholas Mellott (@Nick_Mellott) December 4, 2022
Jake Cronenworth has been a great Padre but if its Trea Turner or him I will gladly drive him to the airport and wish him well.
— rich (@rich_roberts) December 3, 2022
Padres are not getting Trea Turner and what planet does a guy who is going to be 29 edge of falling off a cliff hit .215 with 9 homers and 36 rbis at Petco 78 games have a lot of value? 1 rbi in LCS where there was 44 runs scored cmon smarten up padre fan
— Michael (@jenky14) December 4, 2022
Trea turner meeting with the padres is like being friends with someone who did your best friend dirty prove me wrong
— priscilla hernandez 💌 (@priscccillaa) December 4, 2022
@Orioles should see what the @Padres want for @tatis_jr they seem to want to move on with Trea Turner
— Joe (@Joecaps022610) December 4, 2022
Trea Turner to the San Diego Padres makes perfect sense. People tend to forget that Juan Soto and Trea are VERY close on and off the field. Juan didn’t visit LA to support him just for show. That’s his brother. When Juan came in the league in 2018, Turner was a role model to Soto
— Washington DC Sports News (@DCSportsNews365) December 3, 2022
[The Athletic]