Justin Turner

[mulwin444]

Curious about people's thought on his as a possible mid-range cost player at 3B.  He'll be a FA in 2017, will have just turned 32, and seems to provide solid D and pop for the position.  His 2014 was unsustainable but it appears that he's found a nice 130+ OPS rut the past two seasons and looks to be good for .280/.350/.850 OPS.  If the team decides not to trade (or can't find a trading partner) for Escobar, how much of a disaster would it be to move Escobar to LF, and have Cowart and his D move over to 2B, when he has played 14 games at SLC this season.  Cowart's D and arm are top notch at 3B but this team needs an answer at 2B and he can at least match the .250/.288/.661 OPS that Angels' 2B have put up this season.  Also, Cowart, with his 18 stolen bases, provides an element of speed that has been missing from the postion as well (Angels' 2B 4 out of 8 in stolen bases attempts in 2016).

 

Based on age and skill set, Turner looks to be a poor man's Josh Donaldson

 

Thoughts?

 

 

[DMVol]

With a thin LF and 2b FA market, we may have to be creative to figure out how to plug those black holes....So, it's at least worth considering...

[yk9001]

I was driving, listening to the dodger's postgame show this weekend.

A caller had a plan for the dodgers - sign this guy, trade this guy, and re-sign Turner "at a reasonable cost".

The host brought up a good point.  The dodgers may want to re-sign him at a reasonable cost.  There is every chance that one team will spend stupid money for him.

[totdprods]

I think he's going to wind up being overpaid by the Dodgers. He would be a fine addition, but not my first choice. 

I'd be more interested in Martin Prado, similar player who should cost a little less in terms of years and overall money.

I'm leaning towards keeping Escobar until next deadline, unless a team pays my high asking price. 

Wouldn't surprise me at all if Pennington gets dealt in the next week to a team needing some vet IF presence on the bench. In that case, I also would look at a guy like Stephen Drew or Kelly Johnson, both guys we were connected to in the offseason, who have quietly had decent years on the cheap, as a UT IF next season, relying on a platoon of them, Petit, and Cowart.

[totdprods]

11 minutes ago, DMVol said:

With a thin LF and 2b FA market, we may have to be creative to figure out how to plug those black holes....So, it's at least worth considering...

?? LF, CP, and 2B/3B are about the only part of this year's FA class that has any depth at all. No big names really, but many decent vets.

[Make Angels Great Again]

He's probably gonna get somewhere around 70-90 mil for 4 or 5 years.

 

That's my prediction. These FA markets are stupid.

[DMVol]

19 minutes ago, totdprods said:

?? LF, CP, and 2B/3B are about the only part of this year's FA class that has any depth at all. No big names really, but many decent vets.

Other than Turner, I don't see a 2b or 3b I would waste any money on....Walker is ok at 2b but probably not worth what he'll get........If Cespedes doesn't opt out (as he's said), who in LF would you want?  Fowler maybe.  What the heck is CP?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/03/2016-17-mlb-free-agents.html

[ScruffytheJanitor]

If we actually could get him for a reasonable deal, heck yeah let's do it. He'll probably sign for 3-4 years, 15 Mill per year, and I am not sure that's reasonable

[Docwaukee]

I think Turner's contract fits somewhere between Zobrist and Murphy.  ie 4/56 vs. 3/37.  

[mulwin444]

12 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I think Turner's contract fits somewhere between Zobrist and Murphy.  ie 4/56 vs. 3/37.  

That's what I am thinking as well.  Unless the Dodgers ridiculously overpay, which is possible, 4/56 mil is what I would start with to see where we were at. 

[totdprods]

28 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Other than Turner, I don't see a 2b or 3b I would waste any money on....Walker is ok at 2b but probably not worth what he'll get........If Cespedes doesn't opt out (as he's said), who in LF would you want?  Fowler maybe.  What the heck is CP?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/03/2016-17-mlb-free-agents.html

CP = closing pitcher. Chapman, Melancon, Jansen. 

I may not be 100% of this, but I'd think Martin Prado could still play second, and he's been very good over his career. I think he'll be a bit cheaper and need less years than Walker or Turner.

I don't see how Turner isn't that different from Walker, in terms of probably not being worth what he'll get.
They both seem to be pretty comparable to me. Career .773 OPS for Walker vs career .791 OPS for Turner. OPS+ of 113 for Walker, 119 for Turner. 18.6 WAR for Walker, 13.4 for Turner. Turner hits right, Walker hits left, which we arguably could use more of. Walker's a year younger too. Either could play 2B or 3B, either of which we'll have a need for. Really, I would be fine with either one, but I have a hunch the Dodgers are going to overpay big-time to keep Turner, moreso than what the Mets will offer Walker or what he'll get on the open market. Dodgers can afford to that, already have a leg up by having him on the team, and have expressed a lot of interest in keeping him.

Regarding outfielders, I also think Cespedes won't opt out, and I could see Fowler re-upping with the Cubs or exercising his option. Obviously, if he became a FA, I would be interested. Fowler aside, I think there are several Eppler-esque free agent outfielders out there though. Guys who you can get on short deals, one or two, years, without committing crazy dollars. Guys who can be traded at the deadline if/when the Angels drop out of the race, or guys who could be released without losing tons of money or relegated to a 4th OF role if ineffective or squeezed out for a better option. Guys who have more of an emphasis on speed and defense like Jon Jay, Rajai Davis, or Angel Pagan. Josh Reddick, Franklin Gutierrez, Carlos Gomez, Colby Rasmus, and Michael Saunders are out there as well.

I totally agree that every single one of those guys comes with risk, and some of them will get far more money than they're worth, and some will completely fall apart with age, but for two years running now we've tried like 20 different LFs and still are pulling something like a combined .580 OPS from the position. All you need is to pick one of those guys and hope they put up a .700 OPS - something well within reason for any of them, some a little more, some a little less - and you've massively improved over the last two years. 

Circling back to infielders, I will admit that the depth is far more on the 3B side than 2B. I expect 2B to be a combo of Petit, Pennington (if he isn't dealt this week or in the offseason) and Cowart next year, with the expectation Cowart gets enough MLB experience to step into 3B in 2018 without any rookie jitters. So, I don't think 2B will be addressed. So in my mind, if we sign any infielder, it'll be more of the UT IF type because Pennington is dealt, or because they really, really don't like Kaleb Cowart. Aside from Prado, who I would love to get, we were connected to both Stephen Drew and Kelly Johnson this past offseason, and they both were decent and cheap this year. They'd fill Pennington's role nicely. Luis Valbuena would be a fine 3B stopgap. Steve Pearce would be interesting, and Aybar has even been hot since starting so poorly.

[Troll Daddy]

I like this kid ...he would mesh well with the team. Unfortunately, he doesn't play left field. 

[Tank]

i like turner a lot and would love to have him in anaheim.

[Oz27]

Some people get too fixated on fixing holes on a team. If you needed to improve a team by 3 wins and you had a crappy left fielder, does it really matter if you're getting those three extra wins by upgrading left field or upgrading third base? Three wins is three wins. I'm using that as a hypothetical rather than saying that's what the situation is here. If he was available for a  David Murphy type contract I would snap him up without thinking twice. I would be surprised if he signed for less than the Zobrist 4/56 though.

[totdprods]

Eppler's priorities this offseason should be, regardless of intent to contend in 2017, LF, SP, and pen. Maybe one more good bench player. 

The more he can do there without compromising the payroll or farm, the better.

[meat]

Turning 32 in November and is having his best season(by far)ever.  No way I give this guy a 3 year deal at 12 mil+ per season.  Injury prone as well.

[Troll Daddy]

43 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Eppler's priorities this offseason should be, regardless of intent to contend in 2017, LF, SP, and pen. Maybe one more good bench player. 

The more he can do there without compromising the payroll or farm, the better.

It's really that simple ... agree

[jgimondo]

The Angels have tried everyone else in LF , why not Turner?

[totdprods]

I'm sure Turner could play LF, and he'd be solid for that, but not sure he'd want to. These UT IF guys probably look forward to free agency as a chance to settle down and focus on one position for once.

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

I like Turner for 3B actually. If Reddick wants to much drop some coin in the bully and call it an off-season!.

 

I really like the thought of adding Turner at 3B and Reddick in LF..... Then the ability of sliding in Sherm for 2B and whatever offense you get could be fine! as long as the D is there.

[Ohtaniland]

I think Eppler is going to think long term when it comes to 3b. We need to stop signing these stop over remedy temps.

[ten ocho recon scout]

9 hours ago, SlappyUtilityMIF said:

I like Turner for 3B actually. If Reddick wants to much drop some coin in the bully and call it an off-season!.

 

I really like the thought of adding Turner at 3B and Reddick in LF..... Then the ability of sliding in Sherm for 2B and whatever offense you get could be fine! as long as the D is there.

I agree, if we can slide the D in there, the rest of the west will be f*cked.