I had mentally ruled the Brewers out of Justin Turner’s free agency after they signed Kolten Wong, both because of the coordination of spots in the infield, and because I didn’t see the Brewers inking two significant free agent contracts at the same time.
But maybe I assumed too much:
Sources: Brewers still in play for free-agent third baseman Justin Turner even after agreeing to deal with Kolten Wong. Most view the Dodgers as the favorite for Turner, but the Brewers are interested.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) February 5, 2021
To be sure, Turner would be a significant immediate upgrade for the Brewers at third base, where the team would likely otherwise be going with Luis Urias (who might not be ready yet). I also kinda figured they’d eventually circle back to Jedd Gyorko, who could be a cheap, productive option again.
Heck, I would still probably bet on that more than them landing Turner, but I sure didn’t see them getting Wong a couple days ago. So what do I know.
If you’re looking past the impact on the Central, your trickle-down effect here would be that, once Turner signs, Kris Bryant is probably teams’ best last hope to get a short-term impact bat at third base. The Dodgers have long been connected to Bryant in rumors, but if they re-up with Turner, that’ll be that.
Perhaps this latest report is designed to get the Dodgers to pull the trigger on Turner (and you wonder if the Dodgers are waiting to do it until they know for sure that they didn’t land Trevor Bauer).