Brewers Rumors: Crew Once Again Showing Interest In 3B Justin Turner

The Brewers are big fans of Justin Turner. Two years ago, the Brewers made a strong push to land the slugging third baseman in free agency and pry him from the Dodgers. Once the Dodgers matched the Brewers offer, he went back to LA.

Now, two years later, the Dodgers declined the option on Turner's contract, once again making him a free agent. The Brewers, once again, are interested.

Per Jim Bowden of The Athletic, the Brewers are among three teams that have shown interest in the 38 year old third baseman this offseason, including the Dodgers (of course) and the Miami Marlins.

Despite his age, Justin Turner still likely presents a big upgrade for the Brewers at third base and there should be no surprise about the Crew's interest.

Justin Turner has started to show his age a little bit last season. His home run power dipped a bit with just 13 homers on the year, but he still hit a solid .278/.350/.438 with a career-high(!) 36 doubles, and a 116 OPS+.

While a few of his homers may have turned into doubles instead, Turner is still a very productive bat. He may not be relied upon as a cleanup hitter anymore, but he can fit perfectly in the 6th spot in the Brewers order behind new additions William Contreras and Jesse Winker.

Any deal for Turner likely won't be more than two years at the most, it could very well even be a one year deal. The Brewers do like their one year deals for veterans and they've had their eye on Turner for quite a while. His salary will be less expensive than if they had signed him two years ago.

During negotiations that offseason, Turner even got to calling then-Brewers President David Stearns "Stearnsie", and he was legitimately interested in Milwaukee. It's unknown if he's also developed a nickname for Matt Arnold.

Now that catcher has been addressed, the big position of need on the Brewers roster is at third base. Turner would present an upgrade and would push Luis Urias to the super-utility role. With Turner's age, he's likely to need frequent rest, allowing plenty of at-bats for Urias and he'd be on a short-term contract and wouldn't block Urias going into the future.

If the Brewers can bring in Justin Turner, it'll have been a strong offseason for them so far as they remake their offense. They sent out two quality contributors in Kolten Wong and Hunter Renfroe, but have added Jesse Winker and William Contreras and if they can add Justin Turner as well, that whole middle of the lineup will have been re-made to something much more powerful and productive.

Provided the price is reasonable, the Brewers absolutely should be in on this, and according to the latest rumors, they are.