Red Sox Rumors: Boston Had 'Extensive' Talks About Trading Justin Turner to Marlins

Before acquiring Josh Bell from the Cleveland Guardians at the trade deadline Tuesday, the Miami Marlins were exploring a deal for Justin Turner.

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Boston Red Sox had "extensive discussions" about moving the two-time All-Star to Miami.

Talks got to a point where the Marlins "felt they were close to acquiring" Turner before the deal fell through.

It's unclear exactly when the talks occurred, but WEEI's Rob Bradford reported on July 28 the Red Sox were telling inquiring teams they weren't interested in trading Turner.

On the day of the trade deadline, the Marlins swung two deals to boost their lineup for the stretch run. They acquired Jake Burger from the Chicago White Sox for pitching prospect Jake Eder and got Bell from the Guardians for Jean Segura and infield prospect Kahlil Watson.

It would have been interesting to see the reaction from Boston if Turner had been traded. The only move from the Red Sox front office on Tuesday was to acquire utilityman Luis Urías from the Milwaukee Brewers for right-handed pitching prospect Bradley Blalock.

Urías was subsequently optioned to Triple-A upon completion of the deal.

It was a lackluster deadline for a Red Sox team that's only 2.5 games out of a playoff spot, but potentially trading Turner from a squad competing for the postseason would have sent a bad message.

Rosenthal noted Boston's strategy at the 2022 trade deadline was a mixture of buying and selling, with the deal sending Christian Vázquez to the Houston Astros upsetting several players on the roster.

"Justin Turner's leadership means even more to this year's team than Vázquez's presence did to last year's," Rosenthal wrote.

Boston was in a tricky spot with Turner because he has a $13.4 million player option for next season. If he opts out, the team risks losing him in free agency for nothing.

But Turner has also been one of the best hitters for the Red Sox this season. He's got a .286/.356/.481 with 17 homers and 71 RBI in 102 games entering Thursday.