The thought of Trea Turner going to the Mets is tantalizing.
But the reality is it might be a little too complicated to pull off.
Antennas were raised earlier in the week when Metsmerized Online’s Michael Mayer reported that the Mets like Turner and could make a run at him. Of course, the Mets already have one highly-paid shortstop in Francisco Lindor.
The resulting theories have been that Turner could go to second base and Jeff McNeil would move to the outfield. Alternatively, Turner did play in the outfield in the minors and early in his career with the Nationals, so theoretically he could move there and the Mets would keep the Lindor-McNeil combo up the middle.
Both of those ideas would likely result in the Mets letting Brandon Nimmo walk in free agency. Audacy MLB insider Jon Heyman suggested on “The Show: A New York Post Baseball Podcast” that the Turner-Mets idea might be far-fetched anyways.
"First of all, I think the Trea Turner thing is fanciful," Heyman said. "I did hear that from a Mets person back at the World Series in a phone conversation how much they loved Trea Turner. I don’t think that’s really realistic. He balked at the trade to the Dodgers, and part of it might’ve been geography, but part of it was going to second base. …
"(Guys who play shortstop) don’t like to leave shortstop, he wants to be a shortstop. I think there are nine teams out there looking for a shortstop, and we’re talking about a guy with a great speed-power combination. You don’t want to gamble with $300 million and move the guy to a different position, that’s one (thing), and No. 2, I don’t think he’s going to do it."
Last offseason, the Red Sox did something similar by signing Trevor Story despite already having Xander Bogaerts. Story gives the Red Sox a contingency plan at the position in the event Bogaerts signs elsewhere this offseason, however the Mets have Lindor under contract through 2031, so their shortstop role will be covered for a long time.
Steve Cohen has shown a willingness to spend, but because of all the shuffling around it would require, signing Turner to a monster deal might not be the best use of resources.
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