MLB Rumors: Trea Turner explains his Dodgers departure
As it turns out, Trea Turner never had much of a choice to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers because they never gave him the option.
Turner spoke about why he didn’t return to Los Angeles, and instead signed with the Philadelphia Phillies this past winter. There’s no ill will meant towards the Dodgers, of course, as Turner is happy with his $300 million+ deal, and his new team.
Turner expressed that, at one point, the Dodgers ensured him they would be among his suitors in free agency. However, that call never came. Still, the Phillies shortstop wasn’t all that surprised, he said to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
"“It’s a business. I told (president of baseball operations) Andrew (Friedman), ‘Just be honest with me and I’ll be honest with you.’ We had great communication. I tip my cap to him. He communicated really well in the time I was there, and that’s all I really asked of them. It just didn’t work out. … You want that two-way street, you want that love, you could say. I think the relationships that I built were very good for me, and I enjoyed it.”"
And, as far as Turner knows, Los Angeles was up front with him until the very end. Then, when he was up for grabs and no longer on the roster, that communication ceased to exist. It’s unclear just yet whether the Dodgers will regret moving on from Turner, but for now a move back East was the right play for a Phillies team hoping to build off a National League pennant-winning season.
MLB Rumors: Why won’t Cubs call up Matt Mervis?
The Chicago Cubs are off to their best major-league start in years behind an impressive rotation and strong play from Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Cody Bellinger and more. Still, there’s something missing, and its an infusion of much-needed young talent.
Chicago has just that waiting in the minor leagues in Matt Mervis and Christopher Morel. Mervis, for one, has been raking ever since he was sent to Iowa. For some reason, though, the Cubs continue to keep him there and allow Eric Hosmer to create a gaping hole in their lineup. Chicago’s reasoning for sticking with Hosmer makes even less sense than playing him in the first place, per Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic:
"“Getting rid of Hosmer so early in the season would be a bad look in the clubhouse. It could rub some the wrong way in the sense that a well-respected veteran was given little time to work his way out of a slump. Fans certainly don’t want to hear that, which is understandable. Their focus isn’t often going to be on these types of things. Results drive fan emotions, which is natural.”"
Hosmer was a very late addition to the clubhouse, so it’s hard to believe he’s the glue that is holding this whole thing together. Chicago has a stable core of veterans, including the aforementioned Swanson, who was a clubhouse leader in Atlanta and often jokingly referred to as ‘The Sheriff’. You’re telling me that guy can’t explain Hosmer’s departure to the rest of the group?
Cubbies Crib’s Jordan Campbell said just as much in his write-up of the team’s excuse:
"“The very first is that if the Cubs’ clubhouse is in a position where the waiving of Hosmer may create a fractured clubhouse, then the team does not have a stable clubhouse to begin with. Hosmer was one of the last signings that the Cubs made this off-season and at the league minimum salary, it was a move that the Cubs made because of how easy it would be to cut ties with the veteran if he continued being the average to below-average offensive player that he has been since his last All-Star season in 2017.”"
If Chicago can’t sustain Hosmer’s departure, then perhaps this start is fool’s gold after all.
MLB Rumors: Could Braves make another trade with the A’s?
The Oakland Athletics are a sinking ship on their way to Las Vegas. They might as well gamble.
The A’s are the worst team in baseball by a mile and could have more assets to move to contending teams at the MLB Trade Deadline. One of those assets should be Brent Rooker, who at 28 years old is having the best season of his career by far. Rooker is slashing .353/.465/.779 with an OPS of 1.245. None of his previous seasons have come close to replicating this kind of production, which means Oakland should deal him while his value is highest.
Rooker can play both left field and designated hitter, of course, which makes him a great fit for a common Oakland trade suitor — the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta is trotting out the likes of Marcell Ozuna, Sam Hilliard and more to fill a hole that should have been addressed this offseason. It’s not often we can criticize Alex Anthopoulos and get away with it, but Ozuna is slashing .085/.194/.203 in 18 games. He’s among the worst hitters in all of baseball, and because of that has the worst contract on the team.
Rooker is a Mississippi State alum just like former A’s star Matt Olson. Oakland has already traded Olson and Sean Murphy to Atlanta in two separate deals which don’t look all that great for the A’s as of this writing. Perhaps Rooker will change that.