Cubs agree to terms with Justin Turner, DFA top prospect Alex Canario

Steven Bisig - USA Today Sports

Cubs Media Relations - 22 hours ago

MESA, Ariz. – The Chicago Cubs today agreed to terms with infielder Justin Turner on a one-year major league contract. To make room on the 40-man roster for Turner, outfielder Alexander Canario has been designated for assignment. The 40-man roster stands at 40 players.

Turner, 40, is a career .285 hitter (1,580-for-5,540) with 347 doubles, nine triples, 198 home runs, 814 RBI, a .363 on-base percentage and an .821 OPS in 1,678 career major league games across parts of 16 seasons with the Orioles (2009-10), Mets (2010-13), Dodgers (2014-22), Red Sox (2023), Blue Jays (2024) and Mariners (2024). The right-handed hitting infielder is a two-time All-Star (2017, 2021), World Series champion (2020), the 2017 NLCS Co-MVP and was the recipient of the 2022 Roberto Clemente Award.

Turner’s 1,678 games played rank 10th among all active major league players, while his 347 doubles rank 14th and his 1,580 hits are 19th-most. From 2013-23, he was one of two major leaguers (also Freddie Freeman) to post an average of at least .275 in all 11 seasons. He has hit at least 20 home runs in a season five times in his career and recorded at least 80 RBI four times.

The five-foot 11-inch Turner made his major league debut in 2009 with Baltimore, before he was claimed off waivers by the Mets in May 2010. The infielder spent four seasons with the Mets, batting .265 (216-for-814) with 57 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 86 RBI in 301 games. In 2011, he finished second among N.L. rookies in doubles (30), third in walks (39), fourth in RBI (51), hits (113) and runs scored (49), and tied for fourth in extra-base hits (34).

Turner signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 2014 and began his Los Angeles tenure by setting a career-high mark in average (.340) and then-career-highs in on-base percentage (.404) and slugging percentage (.493). In 2017, he batted .322 (147-for-457) with 32 doubles, 21 home runs, 71 RBI, a .415 OBP and a .945 OPS, enroute to his first career All-Star appearance. He finished eighth in the N.L. in MVP voting and ninth in WAR (5.5). He drove the Dodgers to a World Series appearance during the campaign and was named the Co-MVP of the NLCS against the Cubs, after batting .333 (6-for-18) with two home runs and seven RBI in the five-game series.

In 2020, Turner helped the Dodgers to the World Series championship by batting .307 (46-for-150) with nine doubles, one triple, four home runs and 23 RBI during the regular season and launching three home runs with six RBI in the postseason. He hit .320 (8-for-25) with four doubles, two home runs and two RBI in six World Series games.

Turner earned his second career All-Star appearance in 2021, batting .278 (148-for-533) with 22 doubles, 27 home runs and 87 RBI over 151 games. Turner signed with the Boston Red Sox in 2023 and set career-highs in hits (154) and RBI (96). He split the 2024 campaign between Toronto and Seattle, batting .259 (119-for-460) with 24 doubles, 11 home runs and 55 RBI in 139 games.

A native of Long Beach, Calif., Turner was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh round of the 2006 draft out of Cal State Fullerton University. Turner and his wife, Kourtney, created the Justin Turner Foundation in 2016 to support homeless veterans, children who are battling life altering-illnesses and diseases, and youth baseball organizations.

Canario, 24, appeared in 21 games for the Cubs, hitting .294 (5-for-17) with one double, one triple, one home run and six RBI. He made his major league debut with the club on September 6, 2023.