The goalpost has moved on reuniting with this former NY Mets player for 2025

What the New York Mets did last offseason isn’t the exact same blueprint for the coming year. It was exclusively about short-term deals. No guarantee of a second year, either by choice of the team or player, was handed out. They’ve handled things much differently in the winter of 2024-2025. In part a retool, it’s equally about building up a core.

The Mets haven’t been flagrant about longish contracts for everyone. They’ve still stayed on the shorter side with most, Juan Soto being the exception to every rule. 

Last offseason included far more one or two year contract options. A name available yet again whom fans and the team had interest in, Justin Turner, is available once more. The goalpost has moved on any kind of a reunion.

Justin Turner made sense last season for the Mets, not this year

It would be an unsatisfying conclusion for the Mets to end up with Turner as anything more than a part-time player. Frankly, he’s not even a great match in that type of role with the way the rest of the roster is already constructed. 

Coming off of a year where he played 139 games and had 539 plate appearances, Turner didn’t show age all that much. The power numbers did dip drastically from 23 home runs the year prior to only 11 combined with his time as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. Used mostly as a DH in Toronto and an affordable first base solution in Seattle to end the year, he feels much more like a Band-Aid than someone to get all that excited about.

Numbers of Turner last year included a .259/.354/.383 slash line with 11 home runs and 55 RBI. He still gets on base, avoids strikeouts well, and finished the season incredibly strong with the Mariners. The number that matters most is his age. Already 40, a sharp decline is always right around the corner.

The Mets already have Starling Marte on the roster as a right-handed hitter without much power. His speed on the base paths makes him much more appetizing than Turner. Plus, with the ability to play defense in the corner outfield albeit with declining results, Turner feels like an even worse match for a team in need of something much bigger at the DH or first base position.

In a situation where Pete Alonso isn’t on the Mets next year, the best realistic option is to use Mark Vientos at first base and look for a third base upgrade whether it’s Alex Bregman or someone else. Using a roster spot on someone who might have something left or could possibly put together a year like Adrian Gonzalez did in 2018 for the Mets, feels like a huge loss. Perhaps it would feel different if Turner was a lefty swinger. Platooning him with Marte might help get the best out of both. Instead, Turner is a repeat of what the Mets hoped to get from J.D. Martinez last year, only slightly more favorable because he can occasionally play the field.

Sometimes you need to know when to walk away from an idea. Hopefully the Mets realize this with Turner who, while productive in some situations, is probably closer to one of those disastrous finales than we realize.