TIJUANA, Mexico — A white Maserati was parked outside the main entrance of Toros Mobil Park, six hours before first pitch on Tuesday. It stood out, of course — the conspicuous conveyance of a star in a league largely devoid of them.The Maserati meant Justin Turner had arrived.Turner is the big name south of the border, there only because no one wanted him north of it. None of the 30 big league clubs would offer the 41-year-old a guaranteed contract. None would sign him to a minor league deal. No one thought he was even worth a spring training camp invite. The two-time All-Star and 17-year veteran even called several teams and asked to be signed.“Nothing came of it,” he said.In that world, he’s been written off as old, washed, and a bastion of a game that’s passed him by.“I was kind of shocked,” Turner told The Athletic. “To not get a non-roster invite, that was tough and disappointing.“I know where the game’s going, and a lot of weight is put into a data sheet. Part of my tool set that I bring, you won’t find on a data sheet. I knew that, at some point, those opportunities were going to dry up, but I didn’t think it was going to be not even a non-roster invite.”But in Tijuana, a two-hour drive from the stadium where he became an All-Star, a fan-favorite, and a World Series winner, he’s the perpetual man of the hour, the player everyone is there to watch. His is the only named jersey on sale at the team store. The team’s mascot, a bull named Torín, has been retrofitted with a removable red beard to match Turner’s ginger look. Teammates and fans have gotten to calling him Barba Roja, which translates to “Red Beard.”Many Dodgers fans have flocked to Mexico early this year to show their appreciation for their World Series champion, who put up 34.6 bWAR in his nine seasons in Los Angeles.“Supposedly, this is a Padres stadium, usually, but I’ve seen a ton of Dodger fans down here,” Turner said. “… I tell you what, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than a Dodger ticket or a Padre ticket.”Turner sat leaning back against the dugout wall, clad in baggy black sweatpants. At his age, with a young family, and career earnings north of $130 million, he certainly doesn’t need this. The long and grueling travel, the smaller ballparks and the lower pay. This is decidedly not the major leagues.But it is baseball. And right now, that is what Turner can’t live without.“I’ve always said I’m going to play as long as I can and make someone rip a jersey off me,” he said. “I love playing, I love being around guys, love being around the cage. I still feel really good in the box. On top of that, my family, my wife loves the games and loves coming to games. So I mean, baseball is not going anywhere, and whatever it is that I’ll do when I’m done playing isn’t going anywhere.”Journeys like Turner’s, from MLB to Mexico, are becoming increasingly common; the Mexican Baseball League is full of ex-big leaguers, with teams allowed up to 20 foreign-born players on the 38-man roster. Turner is once again teammates with Wilmer Flores, who played more than a dozen years with the Mets and Giants. On the other side of the field that series, playing for the Dorados de Chihuahua, was Andrelton Simmons, long considered one of the game’s all-time defensive shortstops.There are 14 Toros players who have appeared in an MLB game — an evolving staple of a league that is now a haven for cast-offs. With the majors getting younger, and MLB recently shrinking the size of the minor leagues, the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol gets more and more foreign talent. Eight-time All-Star Robinson Canó was the league’s MVP in 2024, batting .431.