Justin Turner, who has had a fantastic season, will join the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024.
Turner and the Blue Jays have agreed to a one-year contract, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network.
Turner signed a one-year contract with the Boston Red Sox, where he played during the 2023 season. On November 3, he declined the $13.4 million player option included in his contract for a second season.
The 39-year-old faced some danger in declining so much guaranteed money, but he had a lot of bargaining power due to his consistent performance throughout his career.
Turner played in 146 games for the Red Sox, batting.276/.345/.455 with 23 home runs and 96 RBI. He posted a batting average of at least.270, an on-base percentage of at least.340, and a slugging percentage of at least.430 for the sixth straight season.
Turner might be better served as a designated hitter or first baseman at this point in his career. Last season, he posted the lowest rating of his career since MLB started keeping track of the statistic in 2016. It was minus five outs above average.
The Blue Jays should have little trouble recouping their investment as long as Turner can continue to produce offensively at this point in his career. In terms of batting run average and whiff rate, he was in the 86th and 91st percentiles, respectively, among all players.
Given that Turner’s barrel rate was just 5.7%, it is possible that his power output may decline away from Fenway Park’s short left field.
However, Turner is a player who can be an impact hitter in any lineup if he can make contact and earn walks at the same rate.
The Blue Jays have been on the wrong track even though they have advanced to the postseason the last two seasons. A few of their main players have either underperformed following prior breakthrough years or have aged backwards.
While still a good player, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hasn’t performed as well as he once did after being second in the AL MVP vote in 2021. In each of the last three seasons, Cavan Biggio’s OPS+ has put him in the lower tier of batters.
2023 saw George Springer have his lowest OPS+ of his career at 102. Two free agents are Brandon Belt and Matt Chapman.
Turner doesn’t yet have answers for every concern the Toronto team has, but if he stays healthy, he will undoubtedly improve the attack.
Turner can help the Blue Jays in a stacked American League East, provided they don’t expect him to overcommit.
