Justin Turner Cut for Playing Like Robinson Cano
According to a source inside the organization, and reported by Adam Rubin at ESPN Mets Blog, Justin Turner was non-tendered because his “… propensity for not running hard irked the front office.”
Um … what?
Maybe I slacked off in my observation of Mets games this year, because I don’t recall Turner lacking hustle. Perhaps he did, and I simply missed it. If so, OK, shame on me. But, I can say — without question — that if Turner didn’t run out a few balls, he wasn’t the only Met guilty of such a crime.
At the same time, I would say that lack of hustle was NOT a rampant problem for the 2013 Mets. The one thing that most of the players did was play hard — they were motivated to do so, considering most of them were playing for a job. I do specifically remember Turner dealing with the intercostal strain, but can’t remember if he was showing a lack of hustle at that time. Maybe he was coasting in September, when I completely lost interest in watching and, admittedly, was not blogging as hard as I should’ve been.
So help me out — what did I miss? Was Turner not hustling? If so, when? And was it a chronic issue? I hate when I miss stuff like this.
Further, did you notice anyone else on the club who was not playing hard? Did they deserve a similar fate? And could lack of hustle be the reason the Mets didn’t make an offer to Robinson Cano?
Sound off in the comments.
It is also why, during the dinner with Cano and his agents, Jeff Wilpon pointed at Cano’s salad and said, “Are you eating that?”
If Alderson has any class he would publicly disavow the rumor. Turner was cut because of penny-pinching.
But what’s depressing about the source’s comment, if true, is that it suggests (screams, actually) that the club is weighed down by old school executive thinking. If Turner in aggregate was no longer considered a valuable piece of the organization, there’s no way it came down to whether or not he ran out every ground ball. The reality is that he’s an average player – neither great defensively nor particularly skilled in getting on base – who can be replaced for less money. That assessment could also be made of a few other Mets on the 40-man roster.
Turner was cut to save money on shaving cream supplies.
Turner did seem to be positive, upbeat, and light-hearted at most times. So perhaps someone with the Mets saw him smiling during some losses, and from that determined that Justin lacks the fire to win. “Lack of fire” was then expressed to Rubin in a defensive moment as “lack of hustle”. That’s the best I can come up with that has any connection to reality.
Honestly, given the team’s underdog status, it wouldn’t surprise me if management wants to instill some ultra-intense vibe. Turner doesn’t it with that. Of course, few human beings are capable of that, nor should they even try, for a 182-game season. If dumping Turner is a message to have less fun in 2014, you can bet the dysfunction is going to skyrocket.
BTW, Joe, typo here. I assume there’s a “not” missing from the 1st sentence:
It may be unfair of me, and I’ll apologize if it isn’t so, but this smells of li’l jeffie.
I had a similar reaction as Joe Janish. The guy was disposable. Someone said “salary dump” — guy wasn’t making much money. Some didn’t like him; making fun of his pies was a common deal. But, he was a perfectly useful bit player that didn’t seem to make any trouble.
Useful to have such people, but no one person tends to be must have. This comes off as an unfair slam on the guy. At times, this sort of talk was referenced here & I didn’t think it that big of a deal. A bit bush league. Here, it’s somewhat distasteful, since it seems gratuitous.
I don’t know the reason they made it public, but if it is to “prevent backlash,” you need something that doesn’t have regular viewers saying “huh.” People saw what he did. The criticism doesn’t make much sense.
The team waited to make moves to have more time to maneuver. They didn’t just dispose of JV1 right away either.