Dodgers: Dave Roberts addresses Justin Turner’s free agency with caution

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts commented on Justin Turner’s free agency.

Since free agency started, we’ve tried to read every tea leaf regarding Justin Turner and the Dodgers’ future together, but one fact has always superseded every miniature rumble: these two parties are just…meant for each other.

As bizarre as the scene was following the team’s World Series victory in the middle of Texas, the fact that significant protocols were broken just to ensure Turner was a part of the celebration certainly showed that he means more to this team than he’d mean finishing out his lengthy career anywhere else.

So while Andrew Friedman and Co. have thrown cold water on the supposed “sure thing” three-year deal that Turner is seeking, we’ve never completely bought in, and still believe it to be more likely than not the two sides find common ground — or, more accurately, reassess the common ground they’ve always had.

Nevertheless, Dave Roberts toed the company line when asked about Turner’s future on Thursday, showing interest, yet making it clear he could bolt at any moment if the budgetary concerns got too great in Los Angeles.

Never tip your hand too far, sure, but “one of the Dodgers greats” really gives the game away a bit.

Friedman acknowledged this week, too, that the team would love to have Turner back, but that there was a chance he could “fall in love” with an external package.

And sure, it’s possible.

But it’s far more likely that he shops around for another month or so, gets a full inventory regarding who’d be willing to give a 36-year-old three years of security, then returns to the Dodgers and asks if they’ll do it. And they likely will.

Turner simply has intrinsic value, and though Roberts is right that this process is a “two-way street,” if the Dodgers’ street side is expressing significant interest, it probably won’t be long before Turner acquiesces.

So far, mum’s the word on any and all details of the Turner discussion, and the Dodgers’ brass, from the top down, has insisted that they are prepared to get blown away by an outsider in this chase.

We just don’t think that’ll happen, though, and Roberts basically offering to be the first one with the shovel when it comes time to build a Turner statue didn’t dissuade us.

Dodgers’ pair of Baseball America awards prove they’re model franchise

The Los Angeles Dodgers, top to bottom, do things better than their competition, from Andrew Friedman on down. A model franchise in every way.