Mariners Free Agency Target: Going all-in for Trea Turner

Imagine, just for a minute. It’s a playoff game for the Mariners. The leadoff man slaps a grounder over between SS and 3B. It’s not hit terribly soft, and a play could be made on most runners. The 3B fields it, looks up and eats the ball. No play. He steals second. Ty France then sprays one into RF, and the runner easily sprints home, sliding, gliding, and effortlessly popping up out of his slide. Trea Turner scores and the Mariners have a 1-0 lead.

Doesn’t that sound great?

The Mariners should make every effort possible to sign Trea Turner in Free Agency

It’s not going to be cheap. Trea Turner is one of the top free agents in all of baseball this year, and it’s for a good reason. He’s a stud. A monster. A legit game-changer on offense who can affect the game every single time he steps to the plate. Seriously, he’s one of the most dangerous weapons in baseball, and it’s not just speed either. Check out his average stats from the last four seasons.

• .311/.361/.509, 25 HR, 31 SB, 37 2B, 131 OPS+, 86 RBI, 105 R, 5.75 WAR

Now, I multiplied out his 2020 stats to make them a full season’s worth, but that should be a given, or else it makes the player’s averages look a lot worse. Could you imagine having a guy like that in front of Suarez, France, and Julio? I’m getting all excited just thinking about it.

He’s even decent at short too, putting up an average of 0.76 dWAR going back to his sophomore season. That’s pretty good, and he’s been consistent with it as well, always sitting between 0.2 and 1.6. I’d be totally fine moving Crawford over to 2B if it meant Turner was coming on board.

I don’t think there should be much argument about it when you can add an MVP candidate to the team. Look at where he has finished in MVP voting over the last four years.

• 2019 – 7th
• 2020 – 5th
• 2021 – 5th
• 2022 – 11th

Like I said earlier, and like many of you already know, it’s not going to be cheap. Turner is going to be fighting with Bogaerts and Correa for the highest AAV handed out to a SS this offseason. I don’t know if they are going to get to the $34.1 that Lindor got from the Mets. I also don’t think that it is going to be as long, either. Lindor got 10 years. I don’t see anyone handing that out to a SS that is already entering his age-30 season. His birthday is June 30, so he is literally the last person on the age cutoff.

Dipoto and Co should offer Trea Turner an 8 YR/$264.8 deal to take over at SS

It’s a ton of money. I know that. $33.1 per year, just a bit behind Lindor. Guess what? If the Mariners are serious about owning this decade, which is a real possibility if things break right, then this is the type of move that they need to make. They said they want to go out and get a superstar, now they need to prove it.