LOS ANGELES — We at DodgersBeat are huge Justin Turner fans. He brought a grit and tenacity to his years in LA that were a hallmark of the “first stage” of this Golden Age of Dodger baseball. And now, he’s headed to Mexico to continue his career. Dodger field reporter David Vassegh revealed on Saturday that Turner had signed a deal with the Toros de Tijuana. After waiting into the early part of the 2026 season for another opportunity, the longtime former Dodgers third baseman has opted to take his talents south of the border.
Turner entered free agency after the Cubs declined their mutual option at the end of the 2025 season. At 41, he was trying to catch on with another club after a year in Chicago that was more about experience and presence than production. He appeared in 80 games for the Cubs last season and batted .219 with three home runs and 18 RBI. Even so, Turner still reached one major personal milestone in 2025 when he hit the 200th home run of his big league career.
JT has long been respected as a steady veteran voice, a player who understands how a winning clubhouse is supposed to feel. That matters, but big league teams also want production, and that reality likely made this past offseason a difficult one for him.
Now Turner gets a chance to keep writing his story in Tijuana. For a player who has built a career on resilience and reinvention, it feels fitting that he is still chasing the game instead of walking away from it. Whether this becomes one last baseball chapter or somehow opens the door to another major league opportunity remains uncertain, but it gives him a chance to stay on the field and keep competing.
Dodger Days
For Dodgers fans, though, Turner’s place in franchise history was secured a long time ago. When he arrived in Los Angeles on a minor league deal before the 2014 season, he was viewed as organizational depth. What followed was one of the best late-blooming success stories the franchise has had in the modern era. Turner reshaped his career with the Dodgers and grew into one of the defining players of that run of division titles and postseason appearances.
He became a central figure on clubs that reached the World Series in 2017, 2018, and 2020. He helped the Dodgers finally win it all in 2020, delivering the kind of steady at-bats and emotional edge that became his trademark. Along the way, he earned two All-Star selections and claimed NLCS MVP honors in 2017, another reminder of how often he seemed to rise when the lights were brightest.
The lone sore spot of the amazing 2020 postseason run is that Turner had to come out of Game 6 before the final outs due to Covid-19 protocols after having tested positive earlier in the day. Which meant the heart-and-soul of this Dodger team couldn’t be on the field for the final out. He went back later to celebrate, much to the dismay of MLB officials, but it was a bit of sour taste in what should have been the pinnacle of his playing career.
A Presence in LA
His value in Los Angeles went beyond numbers, though the numbers were plenty good for years. Turner gave the Dodgers quality offense, toughness, and a fierce competitive streak. He played with energy, carried himself like the game mattered every night, and built a real bond with the fan base. That made his departure after the 2022 season an emotional one for a lot of people around the organization and in the stands.
There are players who pass through a team, and there are players who become part of its identity. Turner was the second kind. His batting stance, the red beard, the big postseason moments, the fire he played with, all of it made him one of the most recognizable and appreciated Dodgers of his era. Not to mention his work off the field, setting up the Justin Turner Foundation, with its annual Turner Trot run for charity. A product of SoCal through and through, Turner always gave back to the community that embraced him with both arms. For the work that he and his wife Kourtney did, Turner got the ultimate stamp of approval from his peers, winning the Roberto Clemente award in 2022.
So while his next stop is Tijuana, where I’m sure he has built up plenty of good will with fans who remember his days in LA. Dodgers fans will probably see this news the same way they see most Justin Turner updates now: with respect, gratitude, and a little nostalgia. Whatever happens from here, his legacy in Los Angeles is already secure, and that is not changing anytime soon.
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