Dodgers: Kershaw Convinced Justin Turner Would Make a Great Manager

It’s sort of wild to think that it has now been 8 years since the Dodgers signed Justin Turner to a minor league deal. Flash forward to the current day and they have one of the most clutch playoff hitters of all time and a guy that they transformed into an offensive machine. 

But JT is also now 37-years-old, and time is very much working against him. When he spoke to the OC Register’s Bill Plunkett this week, he said that he wanted to play for as long as he possibly could. That means as long as any team would want him to play.

So that has to have him thinking about what happens after his playing career. And while the Dodgers’ third baseman wouldn’t exactly comment on his aspirations, Clayton Kershaw acknowledged that he thought he would be great for a managerial career. 

“JT’s got a great pulse for the game. I think he’s got a great feel for baseball. He’s got a ton of instincts – that’s how he hits. He hits very instinctually. He is just a baseball guy. He’s a baseball guy. He’s just in it. He’s around it. So as far as that goes, he could do anything. I think manager would fit him well. I think he’d do that really well. He has the command of the clubhouse. I think he could do that if he wanted.”

Dodgers fans would probably have to agree. If you were to ask a group of 100 fans in Los Angeles which current player they see as a future skipper, chances are that 90 percent of them would go with Justin Turner. He’s a leader in the clubhouse and has been the unofficial captain of the team for quite some time. 

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Turner’s contract with the Dodgers could run through the 2023 season. The final year of his deal is a $16 million club option that may or may not be picked up, depending on how things go this season. So far, it hasn’t gone great. But if there’s one thing that fans in LA know about JT, it’s that he always finds a way.

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