Trea Turner is officially a free agent for the first time in his career, and as one of the top players on the market, he will draw interest from many teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Turner is only able to negotiate with the Dodgers until free agency fully opens at 2 p.m. PT on Thursday, which is also the deadline for clubs to issue the qualifying offer to any eligible players.
The qualifying offer for 2023 is worth $19.65 million and it can only be offered to players who spent this past entire season with one organization. That includes someone like Turner, but a player who was traded midseason such as Joey Gallo is ineligible.
The Dodgers have Turner, Tyler Anderson, Clayton Kershaw, Andrew Heaney, Tommy Kahnle, Kevin Pillar and David Price as their free agents who are eligible for a qualifying offer. Craig Kimbrel was with L.A. for all of 2022 but previously was extended a qualifying offer in his career.
The majority of the aforementioned players will not receive a qualifying offer, but it was extended to Turner, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan:
The full qualifying offer list, per ESPN sources:
– Aaron Judge
– Trea Turner
– Xander Bogaerts
– Jacob DeGrom
– Dansby Swanson
– Carlos Rodón
– Brandon Nimmo
– Willson Contreras
– Chris Bassitt
– Anthony Rizzo
– Tyler Anderson
– Martín Perez
– Joc Pederson
– Nathan Eovaldi— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 10, 2022
The deadline for the free agents who were issued a qualifying offer to accept or decline it is Tuesday, November 15. Turner is a lock to decline the one-year pact as he is in position to land a long-term deal worth around $30 million annually.
Turner hit .298/.343/.466 with 39 doubles, four triples, 21 home runs and 100 RBI in his first full season with the Dodgers. The 29-year-old earned a second career All-Star Game selection and finished second in baseball to Freddie Freeman (199) with 194 hits.
Turner has been successful in L.A. and the club would surely love for him to return, but there have been rumblings he may prefer playing on the East Coast, where he was born and spent the first seven seasons of his career.
However, Turner denied that notion and made it clear he would be open to re-signing with the Dodgers.
If a team gives a qualifying offer to a player who signs elsewhere, the club that lost the player is eligible for draft pick compensation. Because the Dodgers went over the luxury-tax threshold, the compensation pick would be placed after the fourth round has been completed should they lose Turner.
Trea Turner’s agency creates free agent highlight reel
As part of his free agent campaign, Turner’s agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), created a highlight reel narrated by award-winning actor Jon Hamm, who is also represented by CAA.
Turner’s reel goes over his various accolades, including having three separate 20-game hitting streaks during the 2022 season, being able to hit for power and being electric on the bases.
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