Ross Stripling has hilarious take on Blue Jays Justin Turner rumors

Toronto Blue Jays hurler Ross Stripling is trying to get Justin Turner to join him north of the border in a hilarious way.

After several years of starring for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Justin Turner is a free agent. The 36-year-old third baseman is coming off another solid season in LA while helping his team win the World Series for the first time since 1988. Despite being on the tail end of his career, he figures to be a hot commodity on the free agent market.

Turner has been linked to the Toronto Blue Jays in recent days, and a former LA teammate, Ross Stripling, took to Twitter to let people know he wanted Turner to join him north of the border:

Could Justin Turner really go to Toronto?

The Blue Jays are a young team on the verge of serious contention, having made the expanded playoffs this past year and loaded with young talent. They do have a need for a third baseman, as Travis Shaw wasn’t much of an answer for them there in 2020. If they’re looking for a veteran at the position, Turner would seem to fit the bill.

Turner doesn’t come without criticism, however. He got into hot water during the World Series after testing positive for COVID-19. And as for his performance on the field, his OPS has steadily gone down each of the past four seasons, from .945 in 2017 (when he was an All-Star) to .924 in 2018 to .881 in 2019 and finally to .860 in 2020.

Stripling, meanwhile, became a buy-low candidate for the Blue Jays during the 2020 season. On August 31, the Jays acquired Stripling from the Dodgers; at the time, he had a 5.61 ERA in seven starts for LA before posting a 6.32 ERA in Buffalo for the Jays. Before that, as a swingman each of the last four years, he had had an ERA under 4.00 each year from 2016 to 2019.

Hyun-Jin Ryu is another former Dodger that has joined the Blue Jays, and Stripling joined him earlier this year. Will Turner be next? We’ll see, but at least we know what Stripling wants.