What to do with Justin Turner?

[MisterCrash]

Turner is a very highly rated 2B prospect; in AAA right now he's batting .311/.368/.410 and has a slash line of .310/.375/.437 for his minor league career. He's 24 right now.

What do we do with him? Roberts is signed for a few more years, and my understanding is that Turner can't be stretched to play SS. Do we just leave him to rot in the minor leagues? Trade Roberts to make room for him, or trade him away? Call him up next year and see if we can convert him to third? He's one of our best positional prospects and he seems completely trapped in the minors.

[wildcard]

Turner is a prospect. To say he is a very highly rated prospect is over rating him. He is a 7th round draft choice that can hit for average. His power is poor, he does not have much speed. His defense may be holding him back a this point. He has 12 errors so far this season at 2B. As you say the reports are not good about him playing other positions well enough to be a utility players in the majors. Maybe in time that will change.

What do the O's do with him? They protect him in the Rule 5 draft. He is one of the players the O's would trade in a package or exchange for a another minor leaguer if the deal looked right. If he makes it through the winter in the O's system, he starts at 2nd next year at AAA, is available for call up if Brian gets hurt and is available for trade throughout the year.

I would not project Turner with a replacement for BRob. He doesn't have that kind of talent.

[Anonymous]

Turner is a very highly rated 2B prospect; in AAA right now he's batting .311/.368/.410 and has a slash line of .310/.375/.437 for his minor league career. He's 24 right now.

What do we do with him? Roberts is signed for a few more years, and my understanding is that Turner can't be stretched to play SS. Do we just leave him to rot in the minor leagues? Trade Roberts to make room for him, or trade him away? Call him up next year and see if we can convert him to third? He's one of our best positional prospects and he seems completely trapped in the minors.

I agree completely with wc's thoughtful and comprehensive response (slight caveat: if he lacks the tools to play SS now, he's not gonna learn to do so over time). But I have to admit that there was at least a piece of me that did feel tempted to endorse the "letting him rot in the minor leagues" strategy.

[Triple Crown]

Turner is a prospect. To say he is a very highly rated prospect is over rating him. He is a 7th round draft choice that can hit for average. His power is poor, he does not have much speed. His defense may be holding him back a this point. He has 12 errors so far this season at 2B. As you say the reports are not good about him playing other positions well enough to be a utility players in the majors. Maybe in time that will change.

What do the O's do with him? They protect him in the Rule 5 draft. He is one of the players the O's would trade in a package or exchange for a another minor leaguer if the deal looked right. If he makes it through the winter in the O's system, he starts at 2nd next year at AAA, is available for call up if Brian gets hurt and is available for trade throughout the year.

I would not project Turner with a replacement for BRob. He doesn't have that kind of talent.

Just curious how many times have you seen Turner play? I saw him a couple of times in spring training and believe he could definitely replace Roberts and I believe he has improved significantly this year, he plays the game the right way, which I think the O's overall are lacking.

[MisterCrash]

Well, my question still remains. If we don't move either Turner himself or Roberts, I feel like we're letting one of our best positional prospects just rot away in the minors.

[Three Run Homer]

The question is not whether Turner can replace Brian Roberts' production, now or at any time in the future. Most likely he can't and won't.

The question is whether Turner could do a good enough job in the majors to justify trading Brian Roberts for a really good offer. If we can get an outstanding shortstop prospect and other pieces for Roberts, for instance, we might be better off even if Turner isn't as good as Roberts.

[crawdad]

Just curious how many times have you seen Turner play? I saw him a couple of times in spring training and believe he could definitely replace Roberts and I believe he has improved significantly this year, he plays the game the right way, which I think the O's overall are lacking.

He looks like he might be an average 2B in the majors. Good defense, good knowledge of the strike zone. Pitchers will go after him a bit harder in the majors as he cannot really punish them with the long ball. His walk rate should drop slightly, his K rate rise slightly, but he should be capable of doing a 280/330/390 line in the majors. That is about average.

I don't see the power developing. If it did, he could be a slower version of Roberts.

[crawdad]

The question is not whether Turner can replace Brian Roberts' production, now or at any time in the future. Most likely he can't and won't.

The question is whether Turner could do a good enough job in the majors to justify trading Brian Roberts for a really good offer. If we can get an outstanding shortstop prospect and other pieces for Roberts, for instance, we might be better off even if Turner isn't as good as Roberts.

I would. I think Roberts extension was a poor idea for the money involved. I doubt we would deal him though.

[LookinUp]

Good idea for a thread.

First, I think we all just have to accept as fact that Brian Roberts isn't going to be traded, and will be our 2b for a few years to come.

With that in mind, we clearly have a solid Getz-type (fair comp?) guy on our hands. He could start at 2b for many teams right now. I don't think letting him rot in the minors is a good idea. I think that he'll either be promoted as a utility guy with a better bat than Andino or he'll be a very useful chip in a trade.

Turner + Patton for Hardy?

[MisterCrash]

First of all, thank you for the compliment about the thread. But come on:

Turner + Patton for Hardy?

One of our better positional prospects who projects as an everyday 2B and an elite pitching prospect for a shortstop that can't hit and is hanging on by his fingernails to play in the majors, and is actually back in AAA right now...?

[waroriole]

First of all, thank you for the compliment about the thread. But come on:

One of our better positional prospects who projects as an everyday 2B and an elite pitching prospect for a shortstop that can't hit and is hanging on by his fingernails to play in the majors, and is actually back in AAA right now...?

No, a fringe ML starter at a position that is blocked in Baltimore, plus a guy who is recovering from a torn labrum and getting eating up at AAA for an All-Star player at a position we desparately need help in who has 25+ HR power, while also being a great fielder.

See we can spin it the other way too.

[MisterCrash]

It's not spin. Hardy can hit all home runs he wants - he's still a .750 OPS guy who doesn't walk and is in AAA at the age of 26. If Andy MacPhail can spin Ramon Hernandez into Turner, Waring, and Freel, there is no reason we should have to trade Turner and Patton for Hardy.

[waroriole]

It's not spin. Hardy can hit all home runs he wants - he's still a .750 OPS guy who doesn't walk and is in AAA at the age of 26. If Andy MacPhail can spin Ramon Hernandez into Turner, Waring, and Freel, there is no reason we should have to trade Turner and Patton for Hardy.

The two seasons previous to this year he had an OPS of .786 and .821 respectively. That's pretty damn good for a SS. .750 is good for a SS, especially when he plays the caliber of defense that Hardy plays. Furthermore, he is in AAA b/c of extenuating circumstances: Escobar, and the Brewers wanting to limit his service time. Last year he was the 3rd highest rated SS, according to the Fielding Bible, at a +19. The year before that he was 9th, with a +7.

[LookinUp]

It's not spin. Hardy can hit all home runs he wants - he's still a .750 OPS guy who doesn't walk and is in AAA at the age of 26. If Andy MacPhail can spin Ramon Hernandez into Turner, Waring, and Freel, there is no reason we should have to trade Turner and Patton for Hardy.

Patton's value is very much in question right now. He's a risk/reward type of guy both for the O's and for any trading partner who's interested. At this point, he could be anywhere from a #3 starter to a total flop (because of injury). We just don't know, but we do know the history of labrum injuries.

Turner alone certainly isn't as valuable as Hardy.

I think it's a decent offer actually.

[waroriole]

I think it's a decent offer actually.

I like the trade, but I'm not sure if the Brewers would.