Cubs' Turner blasts Mariners' quiet offseason: 'Absurd to me'

Chicago Cubs infielder Justin Turner ripped the Seattle Mariners, his former team, for their sleepy winter after the club narrowly missed the 2024 postseason with MLB's best starting rotation.

"The fact that they missed the playoffs by one game and didn't go out and add an impact bat or two when you have the best pitching staff in baseball, just seems absurd to me," Turner said, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

Seattle acquired him from the Toronto Blue Jays ahead of last year's trade deadline, and Turner said he hoped to return to the Mariners. However, he ended up signing a one-year, $6-million deal with the Cubs, while Seattle re-signed Jorge Polanco to a one-year, $7.8-million contract and brought in Donovan Solano on a one-year, $3.5-million pact.

The Mariners stayed in contact with Turner throughout the winter and tabled offers that exceeded his deal with the Cubs, sources told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. It was reportedly after Turner hesitated that Seattle decided to look elsewhere.

"Honestly, as much as I wanted to be back there, if I was the only piece they brought back in, I would be saying the same thing: What the hell are we doing? Are you trying?" Turner added.

Seattle's rotation of Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo set a single-season franchise record with a combined 3.38 ERA. The rotation led baseball in lowest opponent's batting average (.223), on-base percentage (.266), OPS (.644), fewest hits per nine innings (7.53), WHIP (1.03), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.77-to-1), and quality starts (92).

"There's never going to be a better time in the history of that franchise to have added a couple of bats to make a run than this year," Turner said. "And they missed it. … I thought (Pete) Alonso was a slam dunk. How can you not go after him? You kidding me?"

The biggest problem for the Mariners was an offense that put up the second-worst batting average (.224) and sixth-lowest slugging percentage (.376) in baseball. A career-worst season by star outfielder Julio Rodríguez, who slashed .273/.325/.409 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs over 143 games, contributed to the club's struggles.