Former Toronto Blue Jays infielder becomes free agent after mutual option declined

According to an announcement by the Major League Baseball Players Association this morning, Turner's mutual option was declined.

It's not clear who between Turner and the Cubs declined their end of the option, but either way Turner will be paid a $2MM buyout rather than a $10MM salary for 2026.

Turner, 41 later this month, had his first below-average season in over a decade in 2025.

The veteran hit just .219/.288/.314 with a wRC+ of 71 in across 80 games and 191 plate appearances, and was largely a bench player for the Cubs this past season.

In that specific role, Turner actually did reasonably well for himself. He slashed .276/.330/.429 (112 wRC+) in 109 plate appearances against left-handed pitching.

That's a perfectly solid number, but it's belied by atrocious numbers against same-handed pitching. Righties limited Turner to a slash line of just .141/.232/.155 with a wRC+ of just 16 in 82 trips to the plate.

That's the worst production against right-handed pitching among hitters with at least 70 trips to the plate against righties this year, and it left Turner is negative WAR according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference this year.

As Turner nears his 41st birthday, he hasn't indicated one way or another what his plans are for the future.

If he looks to continue his playing career, it's not hard to imagine a team valuing his experience and leadership in the clubhouse enough to give him an invitation to Spring Training and allow him to compete for a bench role despite his rough 2025 campaign.

With that being said, a big league guarantee on the level he received last offseason is hard to imagine, and he'd mostly only fit on a roster that struggles badly at the plate against southpaws.