The Mets are willing to trade from their major league infield as they look for help elsewhere on the roster, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. Obviously, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso aren’t going anywhere. Nor are they likely to trade Jeff McNeil, who is having a strong season as a multi-positional contributor. If a trade comes together, it’d involve one of their four younger big league infielders: Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos or Luisangel Acuña.
Those players have found themselves in trade rumors at least dating back to last offseason. The 25-year-old Baty has long seemed the likeliest to move, as the former top prospect has not become the offensive player that many evaluators envisioned. The lefty hitter owns a .236/.292/.419 batting line across 251 plate appearances this season. While those are the best numbers of his career, they’re essentially league average. Baty has gotten there in rather streaky fashion. He had a terrible April that led the Mets to briefly demote him back to Triple-A once McNeil returned from a season-opening injured list stint. Baty hit well upon being recalled in May, tanked in June, and is back to swinging the bat well of late.
A natural third baseman, Baty has added second base to his defensive repertoire this season. He has graded as a league average second baseman with slightly above-average marks at the hot corner in a small sample. Baty has been a useful player overall, but he still hasn’t established himself as a first-division regular. He won’t reach arbitration eligibility for another year after this one and is under club control through the 2029 season.
Vientos, also 25, seemed to establish himself as a core piece last season. He connected on 27 homers with an excellent .266/.322/.516 slash line in the regular season. Vientos hit .327 and added five more longballs in 13 playoff games. He hasn’t gotten going offensively at any point this year. The righty hitter has slumped to a .221/.275/.352 showing in 265 plate appearances. Vientos’ average exit velocity and hard contact rate aren’t much different than they were last season, but his bat speed is down a tick and his actual power production has plummeted.
That’s particularly concerning for a player who doesn’t have much in his game to fall back upon. Vientos isn’t a great athlete and he’s a well below-average defensive third baseman. He should ideally be at first base, but Alonso’s presence means that won’t happen for at least the rest of this season (and potentially beyond if the Mets re-sign Alonso in free agency again). He’s working primarily as a designated hitter while Jesse Winker is battling back problems. Vientos is controllable for another four seasons, so trading him now would be a sell-low move, but he’s out of minor league options and not providing much value at the moment.
Mauricio, a toolsy switch-hitter with a very aggressive approach, is in his first season back from an ACL tear. He’s hitting .218/.288/.376 with four homers in 31 big league contests. The 6’4″ infielder is working as the primary third baseman with Baty mostly at the keystone. The 24-year-old Mauricio would exhaust his final option year if he spends another three days in Triple-A this season. He’s controllable for at least four more seasons.
Acuña, 23, has been a light-hitting utility player. He’s hitting .240/.293/.286 without a home run in 169 trips to the plate. His .260/.303/.356 slash line in 640 career Triple-A plate appearances isn’t much better. He’s the best defender of this group who has only moved off shortstop in deference to Lindor. Maybe another team feels there’s enough defensive ability that Acuña could be a low-end regular at shortstop. He has an option remaining but — similar to Mauricio — would exhaust it if he spends another two days in Triple-A this year. That probably played into the team’s decision to recall him just before the All-Star Break. He’s only really getting opportunities against left-handed pitching, so his current usage doesn’t give him much opportunity to improve at the plate.
With the possible exception of Baty, each of these players probably has less trade value than they would have had over the winter. There’d nevertheless still be teams interested in all of them, but they’re not likely to headline a deal for an impact player. Sammon writes that the Mets are generally prioritizing bullpen upgrades, and it’d hardly be a surprise if someone from this group intrigued a team like the Pirates (David Bednar, Dennis Santana) or Rockies (Jake Bird) that is shopping relief pitching and in need of short-term offensive help.
Brett Baty to the Marlins for Ronny Henríquez and Anthony Bender. Who says no?
The Marlins say no
Every non-Mets fan says no.
@Old Man – Two no’s from the Marlins.
I do. I don’t think the Marlins give up both for Baty, whose value has dropped during the season, as the article states. If they’d take Baty for Bender straight up, the Mets should jump on it.
Batys stock hasn’t dropped during this season. Its actually gone up a lot especially if you have watched him.
From minimal value to little value I guess is an increase in value…
Baty has 1.7 bWAR/1.2 fWAR in only 251 PAs this year. His pace is around 4 WAR for a full season, and that includes his atrocious first ten games of the season (.259 OPS; .769 in 68 games since). His stock is as high as it’s been over the last few years.
I refer to the following trade made in 2022: Blue Jays receive: RHP Zach Pop & RHP Anthony Bass and the Marlins receive: SS Jordan Groshans. Where two relievers were swapped for a mid-ranked prospect.
Both Henríquez and Bender are having solid seasons, have several years of control, and come cheap. That’s why asking Baty doesn’t seem like an overpay (at least to me, but hey, that’s why I don’t work for any Baseball team)
There was only one top 100 prospect traded at the trade deadline last year. Teams are getting smarter with their prospects.
Mets. Not a chance.
Usually when a fanbase keeps wanting to trade a young player, they aren’t actually any good a la Clint Frazier
Skenes for Frazier and Andujar… who says no?!?!?!
“Legendary bat speed.”
Can’t forget Rob Refsynder too.
No one. Get out of fantasy land.
All 4 have some pretty bad numbers this year. Plus running out of options.
I think Vientos from this year is closer to his median production than the Vientos from last year.
Vientos for Josh Naylor.
Vientos and Megill for Naylor and Kelly.
Winker for AAAA relief pitching scrub.
Or use Vientos in a Keller trade.
Or keep the guy who hit 30 homers last year and raked in the playoffs.
Why not trade Vientos for Cal Raleigh and ask Seattle to pay half of Raleigh’s contract. And then swap Baty for Eugenio Suarez and ask Arizona to eat all of his contract?
As a Mets fan, I hope they don’t move Baty. Not sure he’s going to pan out, but he’s shown flashes of getting base hits, hitting with power and making plays in the field. The upside is tremendous.
“As a Mets fan.
Not sure..pan out”…I’m also not sure Baty will pat out either, but his improvement is fairly noticeable. It’s very hard to establish yourself on a team that’s a pennant race contender. There’s literally no rope given.
Last year he looked overmatched, but this year, even the above article called him “league average”, which is quite an improvement in my book. If they trade him now, they may watch him develop into a good player somewhere else.
As a Sox fan, Baty and Vientos reminds me of Chavis and Dalbec. Hopefully I’m wrong…
@NMK 2 Baty is now coming into his own. I’d still be tempted to trade him for the right player. Baty for Felix Baustista I’d do in a heartbeat since Bautista has 3 years of control left. I wouldn’t do Baty for Helsly since he’d only be signed till the end of the year
I like what Baty has shown this year but there is a 0% chance the Orioles would trade Felix Bautista for Baty. That’s insane.
And the floor is adequate especially with some versatility. Keep Brett.
I know everyone trades on analytics these days, not emotions, but I wonder if Atlanta would be extra motivated on Acuña, and what the Mets could get in return from their bullpen?
I bet you could get Pierce Johnson and Aaron Bummer, maybe a lottery ticket?
Do you think they would make that trade being rivals? It’s a pretty reasonable trade proposal.
@Mets Era: I’ll tell you the same thing that I told you when you were claiming Acuna was going to be the ROY. The Braves already have a whole system full of all glove, no hit middle infielders. They have zero interest in acquiring another one. They’ll need a more interesting return for Johnson and Bummer than Acuna.
Acuña unfortunately, doesn’t have much value at this time. Besides, the Mets would be selling low, so I don’t think Stearns would pull the trigger especially to a team on a rival team in your own division.
I’m not the one that brought it up. I don’t know what you think you are getting for two relievers but Acuña would be about max from anyone out there. Don’t know why you are still acting like the Braves talent levels are off the charts.
@Mark Met do you think the Braves would consider trading Michael Harris for Acuna, plus they take on some of that awful contract?
@LFG: Not in a million years. What an awful homer proposal.
Harris is one of the worst players in the league that the whole league knows will swing at anything. You are stuck with that albatross of a contract.
Acuña looks like he might just be a utility player/bench piece. He would not net much of a return.
I’m sorry but the Rockies and Pirates should absolutely be all over this especially Colorado trade Bird and McMahon for Baty, Acuna and Ronny. Solidify your whole infield for 4 years.
Why would the Mets do that? McMahon is worse then all three of them.
Local TV station saying today that the Pirates are in conversation with the Yankees, who are interested in Keller, Bednar, Hayes and Santana. Maybe they’ll throw in Reynolds, too
Point is, I don’t know about the Rockies but the Pirates need to burn it all down and start again. No one here should be untouchable, with the exception of Skenes perhaps. Perhaps
Problem is a GM who rarely gets value in return and the worst player development program in MLB
Actually they should consider trading skenes. He would bring back a mega ton and pirates aren’t likely to win in the next couple of years. Waiting until his last year or two his value will only go down.
You know, it’s a shame but I tend to agree with you. He’s all they have
If someone tried to run a franchise into the ground, they couldn’t have done a better job
Trading Skenes would probably be bad from a business standpoint. MLB is a business before anything else. Skenes draws fans which is good business. He might be the only reason to go to Pirate home games currently.. Any prospect haul might pay off in two to four years, but attendance would suffer until then. Also, from the PR standpoint, it would be a disaster. Trading him basically says we’re not winning or even trying to win. Finally, many yinzers would see it as another reason to hate Bob Nutting.
It may be logical to trade him from a narrow baseball standpoint, but not from business and PR standpoints it probably isn’t.
Given the PR train wreck they’ve had this year with Bucco Bricks, the dismantling of the Clemente sign and the two bobblehead disasters——and that’s aside from the pathetic product they’re putting out on the field—yeah, I can understand that.
But I’d wonder just what kind of attendance they’re going to get after this past weekend That’s aside from fireworks nights, which are automatic draws here
Good crowds and lethargic play that all members of media are now assailing
Look, they’re at least a couple years away from being a .500 team. The question becomes, can they build a team around a guy who starts every 5 days and pitches for 5-6 innings or do they try to load up with legitimate prospects and go from there?
I don’t have the answers here.
All I know is they need to burn it all down, with or without Skenes
The bigger question is do they have any hope of extending him. Prob not.
Skenes has insane value right now. Trading him to go along with what is a pretty highly ranked farm system now. Would give the pirates a bright future if done correctly. Keeping him feels like kicking the can down the road for a couple more years or so and being stuck in the mud. You want fans and good PR, fielding a winning team does that more so than once every 10 days on avg which is how often fans get to watch him pitch at home.
I would trade 1 of them for Bird ? McMahon has been just as bad as our guys so NO thanks to him.
“Has not become the offensive player that many evaluators..best numbers of career..essentially league average”…
Just to speak in Baty’s defense, when your production is questioned and analyzed every 5 at-bats and you’re in and out of the lineup frequently, it’s very difficult to establish yourself.
For me, with sporadic “pennant race” development, pressure and playing time, “league average” with decent defense is actually pretty good.
With these young players, either put them in the lineup or take them out, but don’t question their roster spot everytime they go 0-4 or have a bad game.
Jett Williams seems like the best of them if you add him to the group.
He’s an untouchable. Mets have stated they aren’t trading Williams, Tong, Benge, Sproat and McLean.
So they aren’t trading anything good.
Probably not. The Mets want to be good every year and not unload their farm for minimal chance in one year. They will trade for some relievers and that’s about it.
Yes. Those 5 stay.
Sproat maybe.
It wasn’t all that long ago that “Brett Baty was untouchable.”
I’m sure all five of them won’t be superstars. The point is having young controllable talent that supplements your high end superstars. Can’t pay everyone 30-50 million a year.
Vientos was an untouchable this past winter. It’s interesting how quickly things can change in baseball.
He should still be now. (unless it’s for an ace). People have no patience,
EL- sucking can do that.
Of the grouo Baty is the least likely to go IMO, and Mauricio the most likely. But a lot depends on who they are chasing bc Baty also has the most value.
Would the Mets consider Baty for Grisham. Mets need a CF and Yankees a 3B?
Ew.
Baty for Grisham and a pitcher at least. But I think the Mets need another right handed bat in that lineup between Soto, Alonso, Nimmo, McNeil.
Luis Robert (CWS) may be a good option along with some pitching help (Burke, Gilbert). Mets can also throw in Tidwell and Taylor.
“Depth”.
I see Acuña being traded. He has no where to play going forward with Williams making him more expendable.
I’d rather see them keep Acuna, as he is a low-cost option as a natural SS and Lindor backup. Jett can play every day in Syracuse while they figure things out.
Mauricio swings from his heels, runs poorly, makes mentals mistakes on the basepaths and in the field. Could be great, but is clearly not ready. Also gives off bad body language, like Lastings Milledge.
Acuna is going to be a high caliber glove that can play anywhere. I very useful MLB bench player. I think Baty has more upside. I agree on Mauricio. He will have the most power of the three but is a lot like O’Neil Cruz. Flashes of awe but not enough to be considered good. No way would I give up on Vientos right now. He was to good last year in critical moments.
I totally agree,
Nobody wants Acuna.
If the Pirates trade Bednar, they are looking for a longer term offensive solution and not one that is short term. So major league ready and not three years away or total crap.
Wyatt Langford would be the perfect trade target for the Mets. He can play CF and has played it well in his limited time there. I’d do a package of Jett Williams, Drew Gilbert, Mauricio, and Dom Hamel for him. I’d give any prospect for him. Hes going to be one of the best players in the game one day
Wyatt Langford who was ranked the second best prospect in baseball last year behind Paul Skenes???? Why would the Rangers trade him? If anything he is a piece they are going to build their next team around.
lol you probably have a better shot at trading for Skenes or Mason Miller than Langford and that isn’t happening either.
I say this as a die hard Mets fan. If you want to think big, impact player that they could potentially trade for next week think Cade Smith. That’s more realistic.
Jett Williams for Emmanuel Clase?
A top prospect INF for a declining reliever? Never.
BTV has that offer well short and requires either Tong or McLean on top of your offer at a minimum.
The Rangers probably still don’t care even if you do add them.
This trade deadline market is t very good outside of relievers. It will be really bad if the dbacks don’t sell.
They’re CRAZY if they think about moving Vientos. I trust David Sterns knows not to do that. It’s hard to find guys who have the stones to hit in the playoffs.
I don’t think they’d trade Vientos. His value is low right now. They also have to consider the fact that they may need him for first base next season.
Mets shouldn’t trade any of these guys for a relief pitcher unless it’s Emmanuel Clase or Mason Miller, etc.
Baty to the Yanks for Grisham.
assuming the pirates trade IKF or move on from Hayes in other moves Baty would be an awesome addition but I doubt a reliever move alone would be able to bring him in.