Without a doubt, Trea Turner is one of the best players on a stacked Los Angeles Dodgers squad that might lose him in 2023 after not coming to terms with the shortstop for an extension deal. For one, there were no discussions about it in the first place, with the two sides ending up with a one-year deal instead.
Via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
It just won’t come from the Dodgers just yet. The 28-year-old expressed a willingness to discuss a contract extension with the club this spring after the Dodgers reached out prior to the lockout to broadly discuss the subject. Those talks didn’t come to fruition; Turner said Friday the Dodgers’ brass approached him in recent days to tell him no extension offer was coming before the season, all but securing he will hit free agency this winter — potentially as the top available shortstop. Turner told The Athletic he wasn’t frustrated by the decision.
With no extension in place, Turner settled with a new contract that runs until the end of the 2022 MLB season and is worth $21 million to avoid arbitration.
Turner could leave the Dodgers in 2023, as he’s definitely going to be among the most sought-after free agents by that time. The potential of losing Turner could put more focus on the Dodgers’ insurance options like Gavin Lux or Chris Taylor. That being said, no one is going to stop the Dodgers from hunting for another big name as a Turner replacement.
For Opening Day, it also meant putting Lux, the former shortstop of the Dodgers’ future and the club’s newest do-everything man, in the ninth spot. The 24-year-old reflected much of the keen eye and persistence at the plate that made him a tantalizing prospect and embodied much of his impressive September.
In 52 games with the Dodgers in the 2021 MLB season, he hit .338/.385/.565 with 10 hoe runs, 28 RBIs.
