The Padres offered Trea Turner a $342 million deal

December 6, 12:35 p.m.: The Padres offered Turner a $342 million surety. Tweets John Heyman from the New York Post.

11:51 am: Not only was the Padres’ offer for Turner higher than the one he accepted from Philadelphia, it would have made Turner the highest-paid player in baseball. Francisco Lindor$341 million deal with the Mets, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports. The exact length of the contract, potential deferrals, etc. are unknown at this time, but it is nonetheless a jarring follow-up revelation in the wake of the Phillies’ deal with Turner. Lindor’s contract is currently Third largest guarantee in league history.

While the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Asi reported in the aftermath of the Padres’ failed attempt that the team He is no longer chasing shortstopsThe Padres have at least been in touch with Bogart, Olney writes, echoing the same sentiments reported last night by Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lane of The Athletic.

More broadly, Olney reports that the Padres are “very serious about trying to do everything they can” to win the franchise’s first World Series, raising the question of whether San Diego could emerge as a legitimate entrant in the bid for Aaron JudgeAnd the Carlos Rodon And other top remaining free agents.

December 5: The Phillies have made their biggest push of the offseason so far, Agree to the terms on an 11-year deal with the Tria Turner afternoon. Once completed, it will make the two-time All-Star the tenth player in MLB history to receive a contract worth at least $300 million.

Despite the enormity of the contract, it was apparently not the highest bid that was on the table. Matt Gelb the athlete Reports indicate that the Padres made an offer that outperformed the one accepted by Turner from Philadelphia. The specifics of the proposal are not clear, but Gelb adds that the gap was wide enough to translate San Diego’s bid into more money even after adjusting for California’s higher income tax rate than Pennsylvania’s.

In the months leading up to Turner’s free agency, there was a fair amount of speculation as to whether geography would play a role in his decision. He is a native of Florida who went to college in North Carolina. His wife, Christine, is from New Jersey. Turner reportedly expressed a desire to stay on the East Coast when the Nationals traded him to the Dodgers at the 2021 deadline, and while he downplayed geographic preferences in free agency, there appears to be some truth behind the grumbling that he might prefer a cross-country return. Turner also joins his longtime teammate in Washington Bryce Harper And hit the boss Kevin LowNg in Philadelphia.

On the other hand, losing a star player even after making the highest bid must have been a huge blow to San Diego. However, it also illustrates the potential for the franchise to continue to push the chips in as they aggressively seek to augment one of the game’s most talented rosters. One could argue that Shortstop is more of a luxury buy for the monks anyway, though Fernando Tatis JrAnd the Ha Seung Kim And the Jake Cronworth All within easy reach as infield options. However, San Diego was willing to put up one of the largest contracts in league history to try and add another superstar to the lineup.

San Diego has also been linked Xander Bogaerts This is an offseason. Just because they were inherently high bidders for Turner doesn’t mean they’ll lead the market for Bogaerts instead, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they made a shift in that direction now that their primary target is off the plate. The Padres have crossed the luxury tax threshold each of the past two seasons, and they’ll have to do so again to add any of their free agent stops. The listing resource estimated the CBT ledger to be about $3 million short of the base tax threshold of $233 million, and Turner’s signing of an average annual value of about $27.3 million would have catapulted them into tier two penalties. That would have included a 50% tax on the first $20 million — an additional $10 million — and additional taxes from that point on, but bill owner Peter Seidler seemed content to pay another star. How or if they reallocate that money, either in pursuit of Bogaerts or in directly addressing areas of need such as first base and cornerback, remains to be seen.

As for the Phils, they now expect to look to the pitching market after adding to an already loaded position player position. Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer Tweets The mid-spin and behind the base of the bulls are target areas for Phils, who aren’t far from the base luxury tax class themselves. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters this evening that the club is looking for a setup-type dwelling he can mix and match. Cerancho DominguezAnd the Conor Brogdon And the Jose Alvarado At the end of the games (trans Alex Covey affiliate Philadelphia Inquirer).

While the Phillies certainly aren’t putting their foot down, Dombrowski played down the possibility of adding another player who turned down a qualifying offer. The Phils lost their second- and fifth-highest picks in the next year’s amateur draft as well as $1 million in international signing bonus space to Turner, who turned down a QO with the Dodgers. They would lose their third and sixth draft picks to another eligible free agent signing, and Dombrowski told Coffey and others that the team had “no big appetite” for this type of pick forfeit.