Notable MLB Transactions Tonight: Turner to the Red Sox, Brantley Back to the Astros

The Cubs and Drew Smyly are re-pairing, which is the news of the day in the Cubs world, but there are a couple other notable transactions around baseball …

  • The Boston Red Sox are replacing JD Martinez’s bat by swapping in Justin Turner from the Dodgers:
  • The opt-out helps Turner, 38, but that sure seems like a bargain for the Red Sox. There’s obvious decline there, but the guy still hit .278/.350/.438/123 wRC+ last season, doesn’t strike out, and can play the infield corners. Maybe that’s where we are in the offseason cycle: bargain deals may finally start to arrive.
  • I’d wanted Turner for the Cubs, as he’s a pretty clear fit for their offensive needs at the spots where they have available starts. But there was just no chatter lately, so I don’t think he was seriously on the radar (in one direction or the other). My current bat-related hope is that the Cubs can pull off a Conforto-Mancini combo, but I suppose you never know if there might be a surprise to be had. (Also, I am sorry for what it will do to me, but I don’t *hate* taking the chance on Matt Carpenter’s turnaround … I better run …. )
  • The Astros are retaining outfielder Michael Brantley on a one-year deal:
  • Brantley, 35, can absolutely still hit (.307/.367/.465/127 wRC+ over the last five seasons), but he’s been limited by injuries, and can pretty much play only left field at this point. I’m mildly surprised he could find a better two-year deal with that bat, but his season did end in June with a shoulder injury that later required surgery, so there was probably some reluctance by teams to commit to multiple years without seeing him back.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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