Justin Turner on the Mariners’ inactivity this offseason: “The fact that they missed the playoffs by one game, and didn’t go out and add an impact bat or two when you have the best pitching staff in baseball, just seems absurd to me…Honestly, as much as I wanted to be back there, if I was the only piece they brought back in, I would be saying the same thing: What the hell are we doing? Are you trying?”
I don’t want to make a huge deal out of this but at the same time I think it’s important to build the narrative that Justin Turner is an awesome clubhouse presence and doesn’t really give a fuck about social media pushback. It’s so refreshing. Especially in a day and age when major league baseball players have nothing to say about anything because they’re terrified of doing something stupid. So they just sit around and play video games and let their personalities die at the arbitration table.
A rare exception would be close friend of CarlsBlogs.com Vinnie Pasquantino. There’s a handful of other youngsters like Triston Casas and Paul Skenes that do a decent job. But overall the landscape is quite bleak.
That’s why I love Justin Turner so much on the 2025 Cubs. We’re filled with so many fake smiles and I think it’s actually not that close of a club. I think guys are very much individuals and kinda standoffish because that’s the culture the front office cultivates when you only pay one guy for more than 5 years. Everyone’s on eggshells just worrying about themselves and their next contract. I really mean that about the 2025 Cubs.
So you insert an older vet like Justin Turner that’s been through everything, played maybe 10 future hall of famers: Scherzer, Greinke, Freeman, Mookie, Beltran, Kershaw, Corey Seager, Kenley Jansen, Julio Rodriguez, Trea?… and then mix in all the very good players like Hanley and David Wright and David Price and it’s really just about the most incredible list of former teammates I think any active player can bring to the table.
And from that you get a great presence for a cocky young guy like PCA and a salty veteran like Ian Happ and a cooky international like Seiya and an introverted Michael Busch and psychotic Matt Shaw and self-loathing Dansby Swanson and a puss-hound Nico Hoerner, and you really like the way it all matches up. He’s an ideal teammate for each one of those circumstances.
This may seem like I’m reaching from one simple quote about the Mariners, but the bigger picture is that Justin Turner is the kinda guy that doesn’t give a fuck about what people say or think, and that’s exactly what this Cubs club needs. He’s a perfect influence and I’m not reaching when I say that.