Trea Turner free agency
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Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner is on the verge of reaching free agency at season’s end. The past couple of years has put him in a position to get paid handsomely this winter, too. But does he have certain stipulations on where he’d like to land?

The 29-year-old said this about the potential market of teams interested in his services for 2023 and beyond to Bill Plunkett of the OC Register:

“Yeah, I’m an East Coast guy. But with free agency, you get a chance to pick and control it as much as you can in your entire career. I’m open to anything really. Everything is in play.”

Turner was drafted by the Padres before getting sent to the Nationals as part of a three-team trade. He then spent six-and-a-half years with Washington before getting dealt with Max Scherzer at the 2021 trade deadline to Los Angeles.

So the man has gotten a taste of both coasts during his career, which will be helpful for him as he starts fielding offers in the next few months. Even if he does have a preference as to where he lands next — because it’ll likely be a long-term deal so he can put some roots down — it was smart of him to say everything is in play.

After all, you don’t want to limit your market before it has a chance to develop. It’s hard to ignore the “East Coast guy” bit of what he said in the above quote, though. Turner is on track to secure his second consecutive season of 6.0 fWAR and has racked up innings at both shortstop and second base. And with the ability to rack up 20-plus homers and 30-plus stolen bases with solid defense, there will likely just be a handful of teams that could afford those kinds of services.

*Cough* Attention Mets and Yankees *Cough*.

We saw how Brian Cashman tried to address the Yankees’ shortstop need last winter. They took on Josh Donaldson’s contract to acquire Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Twins. But it’s not like IKF’s presence should convince the Bronx Bombers they don’t need an upgrade at the position, right?

The Mets are set at shortstop with Francisco Lindor for the next decade and Jeff McNeil at second base. However, the Flying Squirrel can play multiple positions if New York wants to upgrade the offense for 2023.

The potential free-agent fit certainly favors the Yankees over the Mets, but both squads have the ability to offer the kind of money Turner will fetch this winter. They’ll have plenty of competition if they are interested, as rumors are already linking the shortstop with the Cubs.

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Matt Musico can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.

Matt Musico is an editor for ESNY. He’s been writing about baseball and the Mets for the past decade. His work has been featured on numberFire, MetsMerized Online, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! Sports.