Dodgers fan favorite sees free agent market heating up with recent interest

Pitchers and catchers from multiple teams, including the Dodgers, have started to file into their respective facilities in Florida and Arizona, but the offseason isn't over for the guys still left on the free agent market.

Alex Bregman is the last big man standing — and with the way things are going, he may never sign — but other than that, the rest are mostly relievers or veterans who will get two-year deals, at most.

One of them is former Dodger Justin Turner, who's going into his age-40 season in 2025 but has no plans to retire. He's professed his desire to retire as a Dodger, but with Freddie Freeman at first and Shohei Ohtani at DH, there wouldn't be room for him on the current roster even if the Dodgers wanted to bring him back.

Still, he's generating interest from multiple clubs who are still looking for a righty bat with some pop. The Cubs are the latest to crop up, but the Tigers, Red Sox, Reds, Twins, and Blue Jays have also either shown some level of interest or been in contact with him.

Former Dodger Justin Turner drawing interest from multiple teams as spring training kicks off

For the majority of those teams, Turner would be a fallback option if Bregman ends up going anywhere else. The Red Sox, Tigers, and Cubs have all been heavily involved in his market and are said to be the three finalists, but no one really knows what's going on there.

Although Turner never quite reached the heights he did in 2017, when he batted .322 with a .945 OPS, got his first All-Star nod, and placed eighth in MVP voting, but he was solid through the rest of his tenure in LA and during his one year with the Red Sox. His power took a hit in 2024 with both the Blue Jays and Mariners (though his slugging actually got better in the hitter-unfriendly T-Mobile Park after the trade deadline).

But he's also somehow managed to stay healthy as he's gotten older. If he can keep that up, he'd been a solid option for a club that's looking for 10+ homers and 50+ RBI on a low-commitment, low AAV deal. The Reds are the team that drafted him back in 2006 but he didn't make his debut there, so he could join Gavin Lux and suit up in Cincinnati for the first time in his career.