Expectations of Eleven: Justin Turner

[Edgy MD]

Justin Matthew Turner



Pos: 2b (plus 3b and ss); BR-TR.

Born: November 23, 1984 in Long Beach, CA (He'll be 26 in 2011.)

Birth Context Karma: Two days later, Band Aid recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Acquired: Claimed waivers by Mets from the Orioles May 25, 2010.

Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos	BB-Ref WAR	FG WAR
Norfolk	IL (AAA)	23	95	84	11	21	8	0	1	8	2	0	9	13	.250	.319	.381	.700		32	1	0	1	1	0	2b, 3b, ss
Buffalo	IL (AAA)	78	348	312	58	104	22	1	11	35	5	3	24	38	.333	.390	.516	.906		161	9	6	4	2	0	2b, ss, 3b
Totals	Minors	101	443	396	69	125	30	1	12	43	7	3	33	51	.316	.374	.487	.862		193	10	6	5	3	0
BAL	AL	5	9	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	0	0	0	2b, ss	-0.3 (-0.2 off)	-0.3
NYM	NL	4	9	8	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.125	.222	.250	.472	29	2	0	0	0	0	0	2b, 3b	0-0 (-0.1 off)	-0.1
Totals	MLB	9	18	17	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.059	.111	.118	.229	-37	2	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	All	110	461	413	70	126	31	1	12	43	7	3	34	54	.305	.354	.472	.826		195	10	6	5	3	0

Number: 2.

Greatest 2 in Mets history is probably Mackey Sasser --- I know, right? --- unless you count Bobby Valentine, and why shouldn't you? The most recent previous occupant of the number is Sandy Alomar, Sr. The most recent previous player to don it? Damon F. Buford way back in 1995. It had been that long, all the while either out of circulation or on the backs of coaches --- including Valentine, Gary Pettis, and Sandy, Sr.

Wife: I can't say.

Nickname: I like "The Beav."

Namesakes: This Michigan defensive back, also a numbersake:


Best Day in 2010: Turner's only Met hit --- a double --- led to him scoring his only Met run, a run that proved to be the difference in this 4-3 win over the coming World Champion San Francisco Giants.

Last Word: Justin is in the mix for secondbase job, but he'll have to really score a knockout over Brad Emaus, as the Mets lose Emaus if they don't keep him the big-league clubhaus.

What do you expect of Justin Turner in 2011?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'd like to see him make the team, but I suspect he's Buffalo-bound. If he fails to win the 2B job, he can stick with the Mets as Murphy's backup if Castillo is released and Emaus goes back to Toronto, but I don't see it playing out that way.

Put me down for 500 plate appearances in Buffalo, 80 with the Mets, mostly in September.

Or, if the Mets manage to be buyers around July 31, he could very well be dealt.

[Lefty Specialist]

I'm expecting Never Say Never will gross well over $100 million and his concert tour will continue to sell out, but by the end of 2011 we'll tire of him and move on to the next teen pop flavor of the month.

Oh, Justin TURNER. Gosh, I have no idea.

[smg58]

Difficult to say. He may be the best fielder of the 2B candidates, and if he's a decent enough SS he'd obviate the need to bring a weaker bat up north. My guess is he makes the team as a reserve, and pulls a .280/.340/.390 line in 200 ABs.

[Edgy MD]

So you have him taking Hu's spot, rather than Emaus's? Minteresting.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'd like to see him make the team, but I suspect he's Buffalo-bound. If he fails to win the 2B job, he can stick with the Mets as Murphy's backup if Castillo is released and Emaus goes back to Toronto, but I don't see it playing out that way.

This is how I see it as well. I do kinda want to see him get a shot, and was curious why he didn't last September.

He'd provide much less jokes than Hu as a backup though.

Maybe closer to 250 AB, as he may get more time as a backup early on while Murphy is still learning the ropes so to speak. .270/.335/.410 ish. 6 HBP in half a season in Buffalo? Hmm..Maybe bump that OBP up a tick.

[TransMonk]

I think Hu makes him redundant. Unless Murphy is awful both defensively and offensively, I see Turner in Buffalo until September.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I kinda like the idea of Turner displacing Hu. (I gather that Hu has the better glove, and Turner the better bat, but which differential is greater?)

Hu's advantage in the competition is the Mets' palpable fear of pissing off that Asian reporter.

[ashie62]

Turner will continue to look good in that Buffalo uni unless Hu falls flat, and Hu has bombed befroe, so...

[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I kinda like the idea of Turner displacing Hu. (I gather that Hu has the better glove, and Turner the better bat, but which differential is greater?)

They've both hit in AAA, but not in the majors. The only difference is that Turner has gotten 40 plate appearances and Hu 191 (which still isn't large). Turner is 26 and Hu is 27. Hu certainly looks more athletic, but hu knows?

[metirish]

Is he our token red headed stud on the team?

[Edgy MD]

Asked like an Irishman.

We also signed freeswinging Chris Shelton to a minor league deal last week, and he's definitely got some Rusty Staub in his bloodlines.



Some Heath Bell too, come to think of it.

[metirish]

Put him in a Mayo shirt and he'd look right at home.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

With guys like Emaus and Murphy-- both "offensive second basemen" in more ways than one-- as the pre-preseason favorites, I suspect Alderson and Co. are looking at their backup to be a gloveman.

Hu's supposedly better defensively, and they traded a decent arm in Antonini to get him. He's making the team.

If someone gets hurt up the middle, Turner's first in line. I suspect he would look good should that happen, but I'm not sure it does... for anything beyond a week or so, anyway.

I'll go with 80 PA, okay D, good patience, and inconsequentially-good stats.

[Lefty Specialist]

Edgy DC wrote: Asked like an Irishman. We also signed freeswinging Chris Shelton to a minor league deal last week, and he's definitely got some Rusty Staub in his bloodlines. Some Heath Bell too, come to think of it.

Isn't Chris Shelton the guy who hit like 14 home runs in a April a few years ago, then dropped off the planet?

[Edgy MD]

One in the same. I think he's in the history books for "Fastest guy to nine homeruns" or something.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Human hair should not be that color.

[metirish]

Edgy DC wrote: One in the same. I think he's in the history books for "Fastest guy to nine homeruns" or something.

pretty sure it was fastest guy with ginger hair to hit nine homers.

[Edgy MD]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Human hair should not be that color.

50,000,000 Rita Hayworth fans can't be wrong

[metirish]

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I stand by my position. She's like a hot alien. A hot-bomination.

[Edgy MD]

Racist.

[Vic Sage]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I stand by my position. She's like a hot alien. A hot-bomination.

i couldn't agree less.
Except i think that's Maureen O'Hara, not Rita Hayworth.

[metirish]

'tis Mary Kate Danaher the one and only.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: Racist.

I don't understand. All I'm saying is that, since they creep me out a little personally, really-ginger gingers would be one of the first up against a wall facing a "reeducation" squad after any revolution that I should happen to spearhead.

Am I likely to be in a ruling junta? Am I likely to have access to a submachine gun or 10 and command authority over a dozen conscienceless men in a lawless, consequence-free environment? Has any publishing house even agreed to print and distribute my manifesto? Then what's the big deal?

[Vic Sage]

http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/ginger-abuse-witnessed-discrimination-redhead/story?id=12929946
Ginger Abuse: Tackling Redhead Harassment
What Would You Do If You Saw a Redhead Face Cruel Taunts?
By LARA GLASWAND

[Edgy MD]

Good stuff here. None of us really forsaw the pretty foreseeable process of Turner getting the call after the Mets rode Emaus around the block a few times.

What ever happened to Chris Shelton?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Benjamin Grimm on February 22 wrote: I'd like to see him make the team, but I suspect he's Buffalo-bound. If he fails to win the 2B job, he can stick with the Mets as Murphy's backup if Castillo is released and Emaus goes back to Toronto, but I don't see it playing out that way. Put me down for 500 plate appearances in Buffalo, 80 with the Mets, mostly in September. Or, if the Mets manage to be buyers around July 31, he could very well be dealt.

I started off pretty good, but then tailed off.

[Ceetar]

CEETAR wrote: Maybe closer to 250 AB, as he may get more time as a backup early on while Murphy is still learning the ropes so to speak. .270/.335/.410 ish.

I'm perhaps the closest?

[smg58]

smg58 wrote: Difficult to say. He may be the best fielder of the 2B candidates, and if he's a decent enough SS he'd obviate the need to bring a weaker bat up north. My guess is he makes the team as a reserve, and pulls a .280/.340/.390 line in 200 ABs.

Hu got exactly one inning of work at short, and my guess is that Turner wouldn't have killed us there if the inning had gone to him instead. I'm thinking he'll beat my projection for slugging percentage, though.