Last night's non-tender deadline brought with it a pretty big surprise. The Mets neglected to tender a contract to Justin Turner. This is the first year Turner would have been eligible for arbitration and would not have been in line for a significant raise of any kind. Quite frankly, its surprising.
Turner is often is topic of great debate. Since being plucked off waivers during the 2010 season, Turner has pretty much been a regular on the Mets roster. A victim of overexposure in my honest opinion, Turner has often found himself as an everyday player on occasion due to injuries over the years. Over that time, he also became a favorite of manager, Terry Collins.
This move surprises me for a few reasons. First and foremost, Turner has proven to be the ultimate utility player. He has played ten or more games at each of the infield positions in each of the last two seasons. In addition to that, he hits for a decent average.
I realize that he's replaceable, but for the few hundred thousand the Mets stand to save by making this move I'm just surprised they'd uproot a player who had seemingly found a home. That said, Turner was a bench player at best next season and beyond and if the Mets need his money elsewhere, so be it.
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