PHOENIX, AZ – JULY 15: Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers smiles as he walks to the dugout during the fourth inning of a MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on July 15, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
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The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a lot of great players contribute to the three championships they’ve won in the last five years.
Several of those players were part of each of those runs, including Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Max Muncy. Others were key for the Dodgers’ championship in 2020 but have since moved onto other teams.
And one of the contributors from the latter camp expects to return to the Dodgers before it comes time to leave the game for good.
“Yeah I think it’s pretty obvious the biggest chunk of my career came in LA,” Justin Turner said when asked if he could sign a brief contract to retire with the Dodgers in the future, per Dodger Blue. “It’s probably a slam dunk going to happen that way.”
After a campaign with the Chicago Cubs that saw him reduced to a platoon role this past season, Turner announced that he plans to continue his career, but he will need to secure another contract first. Though he has been one of the best hitters in baseball throughout much of his career, it’s unclear what kind of deal he might find in free agency this winter.
“If he looks to continue his playing career, it’s not hard to imagine a team valuing his experience and leadership in the clubhouse enough to give him an invitation to Spring Training and allow him to compete for a bench role despite his rough 2025 campaign,” Nick Deeds wrote for MLB Trade Rumors. “With that said, a big league guarantee on the level he received last offseason is hard to imagine, and he’d mostly only fit on a roster that struggled badly at the plate against southpaws.”
In addition to the Cubs and Dodgers, Turner has played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox. But his greatest success came in Los Angeles, where he earned two All-Star bids and received Most Valuable Player Award votes in two different seasons.
As a result, though he acknowledged the other organizations he played for, Turner feels like he will eventually retire as a Dodger.
“You don’t want to piss anyone off by choosing one organization but if there was one, I think the obvious one would be the Dodgers,” Turner added, according to Dodger Blue.
Depending on the kind of role that Turner might be open to for next year, a brief return to Los Angeles to say goodbye to the fans who enjoyed his best seasons could be in the cards in the near future.