Loving Boston, Turner hopes to return to Sox

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOSTON — Justin Turner and his wife, Courtney, are having so much fun in Boston that they haven’t left yet.

This, despite the fact that Justin declined his player option for 2024 last week to become a free agent.

There is no current contract attaching Turner to the Red Sox, but it’s obvious he hasn’t cut the cord yet. In fact, Turner has been going to Fenway Park regularly to work out and get treatment from the training staff.

“We stayed up here. Our lease was through Oct. 31 anyway,” Turner said Friday night at a charity event for the Pedro Martinez Foundation. “We’ve been enjoying it. We had some stuff going on in California, too, but we decided to extend it to November and here we are.”

Turner, with a career-high 96 RBIs, was a perfect fit in Boston on and off the field.

“The city has been really, really fantastic to us. Not only us, but our foundation as well and supporting that, and being given the opportunity to put a Red Sox jersey on and play in Fenway Park and call it home has been something honestly I couldn’t even imagine would happen in my career,” said Turner. “But I’m so glad it did, because it’s truly been one of the best experiences of my life.”

Is Turner hoping there’s a path back to the Red Sox?

“I would love to be back with the Sox. I think the crazy thing is that as great as our experience was, we finished in last place in the AL East. What I’ve heard from all these guys, Pedro included, is how amazing this town is when you’re making a playoff run,” Turner said. “I want to know what it’s like to play in a playoff game here for the Red Sox