One of the New York Mets' biggest moves of the offseason was re-signing center fielder Brandon Nimmo to a long-term deal. Keeping him in town means that the team has continuity in the outfield and one of the best on-base guys in baseball is still on their side.

The possibility of Nimmo leaving made the Mets come up with backup plans. One of them involved signing Trea Turner and moving him to center field, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

“The Mets’ one known apparent alternate concept was to lure superstar shortstop Trea Turner to New York to switch to center field. But while they get points for creativity for such an outside-the-box idea, one phone call likely told them they were dreaming,” writes Heyman.

Turner played 45 games in center field for the Washington Nationals in the 2016 season as the team tried to find him more playing time with a solid middle infield already in place. Since then, he has only played shortstop (aside from the second half of the 2021 season, where he played second base opposite Corey Seager). Max Scherzer, one of Turner's former teammates on the Nationals, explained why that particular idea wouldn't have worked out for the Mets.

“Trea didn’t like playing center field when he was in Washington,” Scherzer said, via the New York Post. “He never wanted to do it again.”

Ultimately, the Mets came to terms with Nimmo despite opposing teams showing serious interest in him. As for Turner, he signed a huge contract with New York's division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies.