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This story was originally published on MLB.com on October 25, 2026. Brice Turang is among the finalists for Thursday’s NL MVP Award, with the results announced at 6pm CT on MLB Network and MLB+.
ST. PETERSBURG — Brice Turang swears he never said that during negotiations for his first pro contract.
“Are you going to let $1 million stand in the way of a Hall of Fame signing?”
Brewers brain trust he swears by.
Whether he did or he didn’t, that’s the story of the quiet confidence burning in the Brewers’ star second baseman, who worked with the subtle swagger of a team leading 2-0 in the World Series Sunday at Tropicana Field.
“She has no confidence, you know what I mean?” manager Pat Murphy said. “He certainly doesn’t lose confidence.”
So here is the controversial tale. It came from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who wrote a story in May about Turang’s development from a light-hitting, smooth fielder to an all-around threat capable of rubbing shoulders with the likes of Team USA’s Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper in the World Baseball Classic. The story included an anecdote about the negotiations between Turang and the Brewers after the 21st pick in 2018. He was a star shortstop at Santiago High School in Corona, Calif., the same hometown as two of the Brewers’ first-round picks the past two years: brothers Brady and Trey.
Turang had a scholarship waiting for him at baseball powerhouse LSU to use as leverage in negotiations, and as the deadline approached, the two sides were far apart in terms of a signing bonus. How far apart is also debatable. As the story broke in USA Today, Turang told then-Beers CEO David Stearns, “You’re going to let $1 million stand in the way of a Hall of Fame signing?”
This is confidence. But that’s hard to imagine, because while Turang has become one of the Brewers’ best hitters, he’s also one of their quietest and most unassuming.
So we asked him as the Brewers prepare to play a game at Wrigley Field in May.
“It shocks me to say that,” Turang said. “Because when you come here and you get a little older, you get a little humble. Man, I’m different now than I was when I was young. You learn as you get older.
“You’ll have to ask Arnold.”
This is Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold, the 2022 No. 1 pick from Stearns.
He happened to be sitting in the shelter. So we asked him.
“Yeah, that’s what he said,” Arnold said.
Arnold would know. He says he overheard a phone conversation between Turang and Stearns.
“David, we need to sign this guy,” Arnold said. “He was good. We liked him a lot. That’s what he said.”
Arnold interrupts the story. Worries about sharing too much.
He calls Turang to the bench.
“Brice, I know you’re a humble person. I appreciate you,” Arnold said. “It’s a real thing. I’m not changing any of the story. I’m just telling what happened. You said your agent told you that.”
Turang: “I never said that either!”
“Now that you say it, it’s starting to convince me,” Turang said. “Like, if more than one person says I said that… I remember thinking, ‘You’re going to let me go to college for that much money?’ I remember saying that. “I don’t remember saying ‘Hall of Fame’.”
“Hall of Fame. You said it,” Arnold says. “And I hope you’re right.”
It has a long way to go, but Turang’s trajectory is headed in the right direction. Here is his year-by-year OPS:
2023: .585
2024: .665
2025: .794
2026: .816
And here his weighted runs created plus (wRC+) is a good measure of an all-around offense that factors in the ballpark. 100 equals the league average. Each mark above or below is one percent above or below the mean.
2023: 61
2024: 88
2025: 124
2026: 127
He makes his manager look very smart, as in 2024 Spring Training, Murphy predicted Turang would make a “quantum leap” after a difficult rookie season. And Turang boosted his offensive stock while winning the Gold Glove Award at second base and the NL Platinum Glove Award as the league’s best overall defender regardless of position.
A year later, he found his power, going from 13 home runs in his first two seasons in the big leagues to 18 homers in 2025. And in ’26, he hit a team-high 21 home runs with 100 RBI, one of nine players in the Majors to break the century mark. Plus, he has a chance to pick up his second Gold Glove Award when those results are announced on November 1.
He’s 1-for-6 so far in the World Series, but he’s already walked three times and the hit was a double in the seventh inning of Game 2 that led to Cooper Pratt’s go-ahead hit.
“Brice knew he was good,” Murphy said. “Why do you think I chose him for the quantum leap? Because I knew he knew.”
Which brings us back to the conversation between the second baseman and the president of baseball operations in the dugout at Wrigley Field in May.
“If you went to LSU,” Arnold said, “you’d be in the top 2.” [when Turang was Draft-eligible again]. Because you bravely go there and played an incredible short and racquet. I was kind of telling David, ‘If he goes to LSU, he’s going to be the No. 2-3 pick.’
“Yes,” said Turang, “but everything is fixed.”
We will give Turanag the last word on this issue: “he said or not”.
Turang said with a smile, “I wouldn’t have called at all if they had paid me.”