Trea Turner might have stayed in L.A., but Dodgers never made him an offer

He said it on the first day he arrived at Dodger Stadium, decked out in the club’s iconic shade of blue shortly after the 2021 trade deadline.

He said it again Monday, wearing Philadelphia Phillies red in his first trip back to Chavez Ravine after his departure this past offseason.

Despite his Florida roots and East Coast inclinations, Trea Turner would have been open to staying with the Dodgers long term this past winter — to potentially spend the prime of his career with a juggernaut in Los Angeles.

"I would've entertained it,” Turner said. “They were definitely in my top few teams."

The inevitable happened instead.

In what has become a common theme for a franchise that has watched a parade of premium talent walk out the door in recent years, the Dodgers never came very close to keeping Turner in the Southland.

Despite having all of last year to work on a potential extension for the two-time All-Star shortstop after the Dodgers traded for him midway through 2021, the sides failed to make enough traction in contract negotiations to strike a new deal.

And once Turner did reach free agency over the winter, the Dodgers effectively bowed out of the sweepstakes for the 29-year-old star, failing to make him any formal offers before he signed with the Phillies for 11 years and $300 million in early December.

“I don't know if surprise is the right word,” Turner said Monday when asked about the Dodgers' decision not to heavily pursue him during the winter. “I had conversations with them in spring training last year, and that didn't work out. Once that happened, anything is possible. It's a business. ... It just didn't work out.”

Indeed, the optimal time for the Dodgers and Turner to agree on an extension seemed to be before last season, with Turner coming off a National League batting title in 2021 and entering a contract season on a loaded Dodgers roster.

Turner said he had discussions with the team then about a potential deal, and talked about various possibilities with his wife and family, but that no formal offer ever materialized.

Nonetheless, he expected the club to still try to bring him back during the offseason.

"From the conversations I had,” he said, “they told me they would be there in free agency.”

But by the time Turner actually got there — following a 2022 season in which he batted .298 with 21 home runs and 100 RBIs, despite posting his lowest on-base-plus-slugging percentage in four years — it was clear his market was going to exceed anything the Dodgers were willing to give him.

As a result, the club made only a modest push during his free agency. Turner said the Dodgers had little dialogue with his camp, calling only once or twice over a couple of months. And though a host of other suitors supercharged his bidding — most notably, a late push from the San Diego Padres — the Dodgers made no formal contract offers before he inked his mega deal with the Phillies.

“We considered it and played it out,” Turner said of potentially staying in L.A. “But then, when the numbers don't get there or nothing happens, you don't necessarily have to think about it anymore."

It wasn’t a surprise outcome.

Turner was able not only to move back East, but he also reunited in Philadelphia with several of his former Washington Nationals teammates and coaches, including Bryce Harper (who will make his season debut Tuesday after offseason Tommy John surgery), Kyle Schwarber and hitting coach Kevin Long.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, saw an opportunity to save money and pivot to Gavin Lux as their everyday shortstop — a plan that backfired this season after Lux suffered a season-ending knee injury in spring training but could still give the club a long-term answer at the position when he returns next year.

Still, the Dodgers' lack of urgency throughout the process wasn’t lost on Turner.

He said he wasn’t necessarily surprised by their decision and he wasn't exactly disappointed.

He also complimented president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman for being "honest" with him about where the team was at.

"He communicated really well in the time I was there," Turner said. "That's all I really asked of them."

Turner did, however, compare the Dodgers' apparent lack of interest to the feeling of being traded.

“You're like: 'Man, I just played there. Did they not want me?' ” he said. “But I don't think that's necessarily fair either. Like I keep saying, it's the nature of the business. It just didn't work out. You want that two-way street, you want that love, you could say. I think the relationships that I built were very good for me, and I enjoyed it."

Sitting in the visiting dugout of Dodger Stadium on Monday, not even Turner seemed sure of exactly how he would have proceeded if the Dodgers made an all-out effort to bring him back — if the chance arose to turn a celebrated season and a half with the club into something much more.

Given all the fond memories he had with the team, though, and the soft smile he wore while recollecting on his time with the Dodgers, it certainly wouldn’t have been an easy no.

“I entertained one West Coast team,” he said, referencing the Padres' pursuit for his signature. “I definitely would've entertained another, especially one that I enjoyed playing for and was familiar with. It didn't work out, but I definitely would've considered it."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.