OFFICIAL: We’ve acquired OF RJ Schreck from the Mariners in exchange for INF Justin Turner and cash considerations. Welcome to our #BlueJays family!
Justin Turner disappointed things didn’t come together in brief Blue Jays tenure: ‘Feels like I let an entire country down’
Photo credit: Reggie Hildred-USA TODAY Sports
By Thomas Hall
Jul 30, 2024, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 30, 2024, 12:07 EDT
Though his time north of the border was short-lived, Justin Turner was as committed to the Toronto Blue Jays as they were to him, making for a disappointing reality as the club’s sell-off continues amidst a dreadful 2024 season.
In the final months of an expiring $13-million contract, the organization agreed Monday to send Turner and cash considerations in a deal to the Seattle Mariners, acquiring outfield prospect RJ Schreck in return. The 39-year-old primary DH will become a free agent at season’s end.
It was a trade that saw Toronto pay down an unknown amount of Turner’s remaining salary — which spans roughly $4.3 million for the rest of this season — to better its return from Seattle’s farm system.
Of course, Turner and the Blue Jays had much higher hopes when he signed a one-year deal with the club last off-season. Both had envisioned a scenario that involved him emerging as part of a supporting cast for a franchise aiming to make a third straight playoff berth.
But the post-season has been out of reach for a while, with the club’s playoff odds beginning Trade Deadline Day at 0.6 per cent, according to FanGraphs. Thus, by joining his third organization in two seasons, the two-time All-Star has a second chance at his 10th playoff appearance as he shifts to the AL West — swapping divisions mid-season for the first time in his 16th major league campaign.
“Coming over here to the Blue Jays, I had — we all had — different intentions on how the season was going to go,” Turner told reporters, including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson, after being lifted following one at-bat during the first half of Monday’s double-header in Baltimore. “When it didn’t quite go that way, as a guy on an expiring contract, you kind of expected there was a chance this could happen.“This is the first time in my career I’ve been traded in the middle of a season, so it’s very foreign to me and there are a million different things going through my mind.”
Among the reasons the Blue Jays find themselves as sellers is they couldn’t string together enough consistency, an element Turner mentioned as one of the biggest disappointments from his time with the franchise.
It was either a case of the pitching and defence being on point and the offence struggling to score or the lineup, surprisingly, putting up runs, only for the bullpen to implode on itself. There wasn’t a happy middle, at least not one that emerged consistently.
“For whatever reason, it didn’t go the way we wanted,” Turner said. “That’s disappointing to me because that’s not what I came here for. I came here to help us win and make a postseason run. It feels like I let an entire country down, really.”
Turner was brutally honest while assessing his performance, perhaps a touch too critical in some respects. The veteran righty did his job, particularly at the plate. He enjoyed a brilliant start to the season, hitting .311/.390/.533 with four home runs and 15 RBIs over his first 28 games.
Granted, he cooled off considerably in May, going 8-for-72 (.111) and only producing two extra-base hits. But, he managed to turn things around to help salvage his trade value, especially over his final week with the Blue Jays, racking up 14 hits — including two doubles and a home run — over 26 plate appearances, registering a superb .583/.615/.792 slash line.
Overall, Turner’s Blue Jays tenure finished with a 110 wRC+, putting his offensive stock 10 per cent above league average. Last season, he posted a 114 wRC+ in 146 games with the Boston Red Sox — who he’ll face upon making his Mariners debut.
“It was fantastic from start to finish,” Turner said. “The people are amazing. The genuine niceness of the people in Toronto did not go unseen. This is a first-class organization. The facilities, everything they did to Rogers Centre and the [player development complex in Dunedin, Fla.] are off the charts, first-class at every level.”
Bidding farewell to Turner was the first of two heartfelt goodbyes the Blue Jays made during Monday’s double-header at Camden Yards, as they traded Yusei Kikuchi to the Houston Astros for a package of three players — right-hander Jake Bloss, outfielder Joey Loperfido and infielder Will Wagner — amidst a rain delay ahead of Game 2.
Other pieces could be moved before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, with Kevin Kiermaier and Trevor Richards the lone pending free agents who’ve yet to be traded. Beyond that duo, several reports suggest management is willing to listen on players like Chris Bassitt, Chad Green and Isiah Kiner-Falefa — a trio set to hit free agency after 2025.