Justin Turner took aim at the media on Saturday for the uncomfortable situation involving many of the players who were part of the recent trade talks.
On Tuesday night, news broke saying the Red Sox and Dodgers had agreed to a trade that would send Mookie Betts and David Price to Los Angeles for Alex Verdugo. The Dodgers would also send Kenta Maeda to the Twins, and the Twins would trade Brusdar Graterol to Boston as part of the deal. Beyond that, the Dodgers had a second trade in place involving the Angels that would send Joc Pederson to Anaheim for Luis Rengifo.
The trades have been on hold since the Red Sox supposedly found an issue with Graterol’s medical records, leaving all the involved parties in limbo. Rather than just acknowledge that it’s a crappy situation for the players, Turner, whose Dodgers are involved in the trades, decided to blame the media for reporting news of the deals.
Here’s a concept. Let trades happen, and then report on them! All these reporters only care about being first. Meanwhile players and their families are emotional wrecks not knowing if they are or aren’t being traded from the only org they’ve known. No one cares who was 1st https://t.co/9GC1DrCiQM
— Justin Turner (@redturn2) February 8, 2020
Turner could not be more wrong.
Of course reporters care about being first. You want to know why? Because fans have a hunger for knowledge and want to be first to know and spread the word. Outlets that are first to report news become successful in a crowded field, and reporters who get information first also are compensated accordingly.
The reporters’ drive to report the news is in response to the hunger of fans for news about their favorite teams. That same fan interest is what keeps Turner making millions. He shouldn’t forget that. And if he would have a problem with someone saying he shouldn’t be paid what he makes, then he should not be calling out reporters for trying to do their job well, which is report news.
Moreover, his anger is misplaced on top of everything else. Reporters don’t know about trade information unless someone leaks it, so Turner really should be upset with the leakers. And guess what? Many people can’t keep their mouths shut when they have information. How does Turner know that it wasn’t a player involved in the deal who told a reporter? If he wants to be mad at someone, be mad at those leaking the information, or just accept that people sharing secrets is human nature and stop complaining.
This trade limbo is not fun for the players involved, and especially Joc Pederson, who was being traded in the middle of his salary arbitration. But just because it’s a bad situation, don’t go blaming the media for it when they’re not the ones responsible for this.
