Dodgers notebook: Free agency awaits Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen

PHOENIX >> The way Justin Turner views his impending free agency, he’s been unemployed before and he’ll be unemployed again.

Turner was a non-tendered free agent when the New York Mets elected not to offer him a contract following the 2013 season. He was unsigned until February 2014 when the Dodgers gave him a one-year, $1 million contract.

Circumstances have changed considerably as Turner approaches free agency this fall. He leads the Dodgers in RBIs and has set career-bests in games played, runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, walks and RBIs.

Turner could head onto the open market this time as one of the best offensive players available.

“Yeah. But technically when the season ends I’ll be unemployed. I won’t have a job,” Turner said. “Yeah, you go from being a role player as a free agent to being someone who plays every day this year. That’ll be a little different.”

The Dodgers no doubt recognize the likelihood of a competitive market for Turner’s services and have had preliminary discussions with his agent, Greg Genske, on a contract extension.

“There’s been some dialogue back and forth but it didn’t go anywhere,” Turner said. “I was open to it to see what they had to say. I let my agent do most of it. … I’m not trying to worry too much about it.”

The Dodgers’ front office has made similar preliminary overtures to their other most attractive potential free agent, closer Kenley Jansen. In both cases, the conversations were basic due diligence aimed more at letting Turner and Jansen know they are priorities than at actually reaching agreements.

“That means they showed respect, that they know it’s up to them to keep me here,” Jansen said. “After we hold up that trophy at the end of the year, we can all sit down and talk.”

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman would make no comment about the team’s intentions regarding Jansen or Turner specifically.

“We have a number of pending free agents that have contributed to our season,” he said. “We value them both on and off the field. But right now, all of our focus is on trying to accomplish our goal for 2016 which is to bring the championship back to the great fans of Los Angeles.”

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Both Turner and Jansen will take excellent credentials onto the open market — but different attitudes. While Jansen takes the appropriate public stance about not focusing on his chance to grab the golden ring in free agency — “this game is never going to run out of money,” he said earlier this year — he privately craves the validation a big contract would bring as one of the best closers in the game.

At age 31, Turner has emerged as an elite-level player later in his career. This fall could be his first and best chance at the security of a big payday.

“Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen,” Turner said. “It’s out of my control. There’s nothing I can do to make it more lucrative or get more years. Whatever the team offers, they offer and then you go from there. I can’t change anything. So to say it’s going to make or break my life would be stupid.”

While some players find the process of being a sought-after free agent flattering, Turner says he is not “looking forward to it, really at all.”

“I know the experience I had last time and it wasn’t fun,” he said. “Trying to go through the agent who was a middle man with what was being said and what was going on — it’s really not that fun of a process for anyone no matter how good or bad your year was going into it.

“I guess everyone’s cut from a different cloth. I personally don’t look forward to it. Obviously, I’ll be excited when it’s over with. But that whole process is the part of baseball I could do without. The process of playing the game, the preparation of getting ready for the games — that’s what I love about it. The process of the off-the-field stuff is not very fun.”

Jansen wrist

Jansen recorded his career-high 45th save of the season Friday night. But after the game, Jansen wore a brace on his right wrist. He was wearing it again before Saturday’s game. Jansen said he has been dealing with “tightness” in his wrist “for a while” and finally said something to the trainers Saturday night.

“I just got tired of it bothering me when I play catch or after I pitch,” Jansen said.

Jansen (who continues to hit 95-96 mph on radar guns) downplayed the issue, joking that he would just back off to 91 mph. He was given anti-inflammatory medication and the wrist brace. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the wrist pain will not affect his usage of Jansen.

““He says when he gets full extension it acts up a little bit,” Roberts said. “But he will be available to go. He’s not concerned about it.”

Notes

Roberts gave catcher Yasmani Grandal the day off Saturday. Roberts said Grandal has been bothered by a sore right elbow. … Left-hander Scott Kazmir has joined Triple-A Oklahoma City for its PCL Championship Series. If the best-of-5 series goes to a fifth game, Kazmir will start for the OKC Dodgers. If not, he will pitch a simulated game. … Left-hander Brett Anderson went five innings for the OKC Dodgers Friday night and will rejoin the Dodgers in Los Angeles next week. He will be activated but Roberts said his role has not been determined yet.