The Mets have grabbed headlines for the moves they haven’t made this offseason, namely watching Pete Alonso sign with Baltimore and Edwin Diaz head to Los Angeles. The club is actively working to add on the offensive side, though, with the Cardinals as a potential trade partner. Will Sammon of The Athletic reports the Mets have interest in outfielder Lars Nootbaar, while John Denton of MLB.com reports New York reached out about Willson Contreras.
Neither Contreras nor Nootbaar would replace the Alonso-sized void in the lineup, but both would fill holes in the roster. Contreras could slot right into Alonso’s vacated spot at first base, while Nootbaar would help cover the gap left by Brandon Nimmo, who was dealt to the Rangers.
Contreras and Nootbaar are just a couple of the many Cardinals popping up in trade conversations. Brendan Donovan is drawing widespread interest. JoJo Romero has intrigued several teams. Nolan Arenado has been a trade candidate for multiple seasons. Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson have been mentioned as possibly getting moved. Despite the interest around the league, nothing materialized during the Winter Meetings. “To some degree, it’s binary — either you have something or you don’t. Right now, we don’t,” president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom told reporters.
As Anthony Franco pointed out in this piece about replacing Alonso (Front Office subscription required), Contreras would be the most straightforward fit in the trade market. He has a no-trade clause, but is reportedly open to waiving it. Contreras is under contract for the next two seasons, with a club option for 2028. He’s slated to make $18MM next season and $18.5MM in 2027. The price tag isn’t exorbitant for his level of production, but it might be too costly for the rebuilding Cardinals to keep around.
Contreras has been a firmly above-average bat in his three seasons with St. Louis. He’s posted a wRC+ of at least 124 in each campaign. Contreras has a pair of 20-homer campaigns as a Cardinal, and the lone miss was his most productive year with the team. He hit 15 home runs in just 84 games in 2024, but a broken finger ended his season in late June.
The 33-year-old Contreras hasn’t missed a beat as he’s entered his 30s. His profile has arguably looked even better under the hood in recent years. Contreras posted a career-high 49% hard-hit rate this past season. He ranked 95th percentile in bat speed. Contreras has been one of the hardest swingers in the game since bat speed data became widely available.
The Nootbaar fit isn’t as seamless, largely due to availability. The outfielder had surgery on both heels in October and may miss the beginning of the 2026 season. The procedure may have already removed one team from contention for Nootbaar’s services. Replacing Nimmo’s strong on-base skills and steady all-around production will be difficult, but so will finding another option to match his durability. The former Met has topped 150 games in four straight seasons. The oft-injured Nootbaar has maxed out at 135 games in a season, and that came this past year, which ended with the double-heel surgery.
Nootbaar has generally been productive when available. He’s routinely posted well above-average walk rates and solid slugging numbers. Nootbaar is typically good for a dozen home runs, a handful of steals, and a respectable OBP. The 2025 season was a healthy one, but Nootbaar declined in production. He slashed just .234/.325/.361, recording his first sub-100 wRC+ since his rookie season in 2021.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
Contreras is a worse fielder at firstbase then Alonso. Would make zero sense considering Stearns preached about needing to improve the defense. This will be a rebuilding year and they can reset the luxury tax penalties. Hopefully Stearns will be gone by the end of next year
If they sign Tucker and one of the two R. Suarez’s, then Wilson Contreras could be a decent cheaper 1B compared to Bergman or Munetaka.
He’s not a worse fielder than Alonso, LOL.
No one is a worse fielder than the Polar Bear!
Everyone blaming Stearns as if he’s not listening to Cohen.
I agree. Cohen wanted to shake things up. I feel confident that the Mets will bring in one or two stars before the off-season is over.
Von you are one of the most level headed NL East people on this site. I appreciate your posts, from a Mets fan.
For anyone to think that Cohen and Stearns are not on the same page is absurd.
Baseball Savant has Pete Alonso listed at -9 defensive runs saved for 2025; Contreras is listed at +6.
Contreras was a good fielder at 1B last year. Seriously. He’s better than Alonso defensively by far.
Contreras rated above average at fielding at a position he was relatively new at. What? Yea he stinks as a catcher though.
Contreras was much better than expected at 1b and a hammer of a bat. Hope he stays in stl.
Okamoto is the play. I believe he won a gold glove or two in Japan at first base and he’s equal and probably a better bat than Contreras. Contreras isn’t bad but he’ll cost young assets where Okamoto just costs money. Also younger than Contreras.
No thanks at all on Nootbaar. I wouldn’t trade a bag of balls for his 1.3 WAR. I’d rather bring up Benge and Jett, even if they struggle a little, before trade for him. There are also a bunch of FA options better than him.
If St. Louis wants to rebuild, I would expect that no money would be included in the deal, but the cost for Wilson Contreras would be maybe one team top 20-30 prospect. I think there is surplus value on Wilson’s contract, but not a massive amount.
i would say 10m or so. Dunno what sort of prospect that buys you – 45+ FV?
I was thinking maybe LHP Zach Thornton…
Do what? Contreras did a really solid job at 1st
Baseball Savant ranks him pretty good as a fielder. He was middle of the pack defensively. You could do worse . I’d trade for him and get a better hitter than Noot. Mets have the $ get Tucker.
Contreras metrics at 1st are way above average, 91 percentile. Alonso is way below average, 2 percentile
Hes not a bad fielder.
Where did you hear that Alonso is as good defenseless as Contreras? You’ve been mislead.
@LFG Contreas has been a better 1B defensively than Alonso since playing 1B exclusively. However on offense the difference is night and day. Contreas is a complimentary piece to a lineup whereas Alonso is the core of the lineup and a catalyst. The Mets might have Soto now, but losing Alonso takes out core of lineup and diminishes what Soto provides. Not sure what their answer to thos void is, but Contreas seems woefully deficient of being the answer.
Check the projections.
this is a blessing in disguise for the Mets like losing Pujols was for the Cardinals years back.
Use the saved money on Tucker, trade for Contreras, much better lineup than 5 years of Polar Bear beginning his regression and stinking at 1B
By what metric? Ignorant take…
You’re very much mistaken. Willson is far better after only learning the position this year. You can look it up . Also great in the clubhouse and the fans love him. I will miss him.
If the Cardinals trade away all their most popular players they’ll lose several hundred thousand more in attendance/ticket sales and millions in revenue. I found myself watching other teams on MLB as the slide continued last season. It didn’t have to be that way.
If it means we don’t have to hear you cry anymore than it will have all been worth it.
I didn’t renew my tickets this year. Still love them but I’m not shelling out $2k to watch a 60 win team. I’ll renew when they’re back in contention.
It’s not a renew if you didn’t originally renew.
I hate losing. Having said that, in my 48 years the Cardinals have been a good team more often than not. Would love to not be in this position but we’re here. Love Sonny Gray but realistically, he’s 36 and I’m excited about Clarke. I hope Bloom can deliver. I also don’t believe it’s as dire as the media has painted it. I believe in the NL Central they can compete and in another year or so compete for the division.
After Mo let this thing fall apart ( players not prepared for MLB ) and Dewitt . I’m giving the new management team a little grace to clean up the mess that was left behind….
Rob Neyer (formerly of ESPN) once summarized this beautifully:
“Lose with stars, the fans stay home, and the stars become nobodies. Win with nobodies, the fans show up, and the nobodies become stars.”
The Tampa Bay Rays might suggest Neyer was spouting drivel there. They haven’t really had many stars they’ve lost with (maybe Longo, Shields, Crawford + after their 1st emergence?), but they’ve won with nobodies and still few showed up.
It’s funny you say that about the Rays, because that’s exactly the team he was talking about.
This is from an essay in the early 2000s about the (then) Devil Rays’ roster-building philosophy. The Devil Rays’ front office made it clear they were interested in signing star players (Fred McGriff, Jose Canseco, Vinny Castilla, Wade Boggs) just for the name recognition, with no real plans to build long-term success.
The team, predictably, was terrible for years, and they alienated fans as a result. No one cared to see the stars on a bad team.
You’re still a Yankee fan in LA right? That explains why Tampa can’t lure fans to be Rays fans.
Sure, you found an exception. Congratulations.
The rule is still the rule.
@jax Every player has to one day be replaced. STL is currently looking at an all but inevitable decline in revenue. They can try keeping aging players to lessen the inevitable but that ultimately would be being penny rich and dollar poor. The right move is to take the hard hit now and build a solid core for a sustainable future of being both competitive and generating more revenue.
@jaxcards
No one is making you root for this team. You’re free to leave any time.
Personally, I’ll go to Busch more this season because they’re finally making up for the mistakes of the past.
Perfect replacement for Alonso lol. What’s the plan here? Mets lost their way man. If you weren’t interested in keeping Alonso or Diaz, why not trade them when you knew the season was gone so you get something for them? You replace them with a .230 outfielder and an old catcher?
They made a push. Cedric Mullins and Ryan Helsley lowering their production by 99% for the last 2 months of 2025 is NOT something anyone could have predicted.
Yeah they made a push, but they just weren’t good trades. I know in hindsight that’s easy to say. But I hated them when they happened. Stearns had a rough 2025, bad signings outside of Soto and bad trades. Montas was a disaster, and everyone saw it coming. Manaea had one decent year and they pay him instead of going for an ace. For same money they could go for an ace or get both Manaea and Montas. They chose poorly.
Montas was a no-brainer that deserved a Gibbs slap. I was excited to see Manea come back, expecting a no. 2-level performance.
@Mini Who should they have signed instead for rotation? Yankees were going to out bid them for Fried, Burnes was going to choose ARI as it was a personal preference, which leaves possibly Snell. Snell however grew up on west coast and ge to seems to have a personal preference, that being west coast teams.
Just not seeing much else Mets could have done. I actually applaud their approach in recent years. A few yrs back spending more on short AAV deals was absolutely right move. When that showed to not work they were quick to eat $ and flip players for young talent. From there they seem to have been methodically filling holes tryimg to time it with arrival of young talent.
The 3B situation just hasn’t went very smooth. I think they wished to resign Alonso but it just became unrealistic. Timing for Alonso has not been great, 10 yrs back power 1B would headline free agency. The Nimmo trade should be good for Mets. Semien has been one of most reliable every day players for nearly his entire career, rarely missing games. With him missing games in 2025 Id say its pretty telling he was hampered by injury. He should see a nice rebound this season and helps fill IF. OF talent is much cheaper and easier to replace.
When you complain about EVERY move, of course you can say you predicted it would go bad, when one does.
ask any Cards fan, they could have told you Helsley was lost most of 2025. Stopped missing bats.
He had a 138 ERA+ on the Cards and led the league in saves for multiple months
He went from being lockdown in 2024 to a tightrope walker in 2025
Weren’t they doing okay at the deadline?
GOBLUE37: Are you having a memory lapse?
Have you forgotten that the Mets were in postseason contention at the trade deadline and were in position to buy and add players, not sell them?
It would have been dumb to trade Alonso and Diaz then. People like you would have whined about it even louder than you are now.
All you’re doing here is applying 20/20 hindsight, which takes zero thought and intelligence.
I think you’re not noting I’m a dodgers fan lol. Not whining, just confused by the mindset they have. If I were a Mets fan, then it would be whining. It’s confusing and weird what they are doing. If they knew then they they wouldn’t be back, trade them for what you can, or where on the trend downward. That’s what I was saying. That’s a gm mindset that teams like the Dodgers have
Go Blue
If that is maize and blue, fyi Sherron Moore was just fired and jailed.
They obviously (to me) feel that going 5 years with Alonso is a poor risk. It reminds me of when the Cardinals let Albert Pujols walk away, and he was arguably a better hitter than Alonso.
Pujols was an all time great but past his peak. No argument that he was better than Alonso, who is a one dimensional, lumbering, poor defense power hitter. Albert’s Angels contract did not age well, Alonso sure will decline soon. Orioles may regret 5 years.
@Go blue
The Dodgers didn’t have an easy go this year, but they didn’t sell off. FA became FA and walked for nothing. Why didn’t they trade Teoscar and why didn’t you complain at the deadline? Just like the Mets: because they were still in it!!!
Not true.
It takes lots of thought to skew the facts to attempt to make one’s self look better than the other guy…..
I’m still working on it.
So they’re interested in a Nootbaar and a Toolbaar
Brandon Sproat and Ronny Mauricio for Wilson Contreras and Nootbaar + cash.
would be a huge waste of Sproat.
The Mets dont need to keep Sproat, Mclean and Tong and I imagine Sproat is the most available of the 3.
Can Mauricio play 3b full time?
Doesn’t mean you give up value. Even if you “don’t need him,” you maximize your return. Kazmir may never have reached his potential, but he was still worth more than Zambrano.
What the Mets need is a replacement for Alonso and Nimmo. Thats why a trade is being discussed.
How bout Tong and Williams for Skubal, and sign murakami to play first.
Keep going and add McLean and maybe the Tigers won’t hang up the phone. No one will pay the Tigers asking price for Skubal anyway.
The Tigers aren’t even asking. They are just listening. Any offer must be over the top to get an actual. consideration.
The last thing the Cardinals need right now is another infielder. Mauricio is basically Gorman as a switch hitter
The Cardinals certainly could use a 3b assuming Arenado is gone
Probably, but I would assume they will plug in either Walker or Gorman or time share 3rd base since it was the position both were drafted for.
Walker doesn’t play good enough defense to play BatBoy, let alone 3B
He is never going to win a GG there (or anywhere) but wasn’t a complete train wreck there in Springfield AA before they shifted him to the grass. He is no Nolan Arenado (not even in his decline, that guy is a special talent) but he would be usable there. He was drafted to hit, and hope the power would come when/if he filled out his frame. The Cardinals have nothing to lose by giving him a shot there. Gorman really isn’t any easier to watch there either. When Arenado was hurt it was painful to watch Gorman make clumsy plays that Arenado makes routinely.
Arenado, Donovan, Gorman, Whetherholt, Saggesse, Prieto, and Fermin can all play 3B. Gorman and Sagesse in particular need as many ABs as possible in a development year. Meanwhile their pitching staff is half full. A whole lot of things have to change before a 3B makes even a little bit of sense.
Arenado and Donovan are probably getting traded.
Prieto and Fermin are bums.
Wetherholt is going to play 2b.
Gormans best position is probably 1b.
Saggese just doesnt need everyday at bats until he shows more than he has.
A whole lot of things are going to change.
This offseason has really shown just how flawed the roster was created. How many 1st baseman/DH can a team succeed with playing out of the position they would be most suited for. Burleson, Walker, Gorman, Contreras, and Herrera could all probably handle 1st base with some success and all certainly have at least potential to slug at some point in their careers. Tossing some of these on the grass or behind the plate or over at third or second just to get the bat in the lineup is a moneyball idea that is so absolutely dated that it does not work in reality.
Herrera/burleson will make a very sensible 1B/DH if they let go of the insane idea to put Herrera back behind the dish
A lower ranked pitcher like Will Watson, Jonathan Santucci, or Jonathan Pintaro plus Mauricio or Luisangel Acuña probably gets it done, especially if the Mets take on money for the veteran players.
Neither acquisition, individually or together, would put the Mets over the top. No one knows Stearns’ plans except Stearns, but from the last week or so you get the sense that the Mets are in minor rebuild mode or at least a reset. Most of the Mets roster, what’s left of it, were not brought in my Stearns.
You can smell the desperation
Good. Maybe the Mets will give the Cardinals a couple of those young pitchers.
Which is OK in a vacuum but the way they’re hiding it is frustrating.
I guess maybe Soto doesn’t sign on to a rebuilding team and also if your direction is stated publicly then it gives leverage to the other side in trade negotiations but damn…
I mean the fans showed up last year and broke attendance records but it was a brutal team to watch, utterly hard to watch.
Rising prices + lower quality on-field product + trading away fan favorites and they can’t even be up front with what direction the team is heading?
Even if you agree with what they’re doing, it’s a lot to ask of fans.
MetsSchmets! It’s not that much to ask. Fans will turn out to watch a winning team, regardless of the players’ names.
Remember what happened when they started winning with a young team in 1984.
We need real players to keep the fanbase, like Bellinger, Murakami/Bregman, trading for Skubal and Yandy Diaz to play 1b
Yandy is undervalued and would be a nice add for you and many other teams. Do you really want the Mets to pay the price the Tigers are going to ask for Skubal? I don’t see anyone ponying up…but, if someone did, my money is on Cohen making Stearns do it…or Preller goes crazy, engineers a 12 team trade for Skubal and steals all the headlines 😉
Motor City Beach Bum: There’s a rumor about the Dodgers, of course.
If they walk, they weren’t really fans.
Stearns is not even in on Murakami? This is horrible.
If you want a corner infielder who will strikeout 35%+ of the time with zero defensive value and light-tower power that he rarely can get to, just get Nolan Gorman for pennies. Murakami is going to be a $150+M waste seeing MLB velocity, much less the nasty secondaries.
I bet you read that somewhere. Reality is sooo much different than writers predict.
Is it really that rare to have an original thought about a player? Not reading it from anywhere, mostly stat-line scouting, looking up advanced stats, and watching video on him because I’m curious how he’ll translate. He struggles with velo, he struggles with breaking pitches. He might not even be able to get to his power enough to be a lefty Chris Carter or Mark Reynolds (<2 WAR) because he whiffs so much — and those guys whiffed an absolute ton.
That is literally what they said about Ohtani.
I think Contreras, Nootbaar and Romero all make sense for the Mets. As for what the Cardinals would want back right handed pitching for sure. Maybe Vientos hoping he bounces back.
King. Of. Cards: A pitcher like Will Watson and/or Jonathan Pintaro and/or Jonathan Santucci plus a guy like Luisangel Acuña, depending on how much money the Mets take on.
The Mets aren’t getting all 3 of those guys for some nobody prospects thats for sure.
King. Of. Cards: All those pitchers are among the Mets’ top 12 prospects.
No they are not
Top 17. Sorry for the typo.
mlb.com/milb/prospects/mets/
Wow. going from Pete Alonso to Willsson Contreras. That’s like ordering Filet Mignon and they bring you spam. It’s not just disappointing, It’s like slapping Mets fans in the face. LOL
Wronggggggggg!
Its like going from a very-good hitting terrible defense 1B well into their decline years at 30m AAV to a good hitting solid defense IB at 18m AAV for just 2 years, avoiding the albatross years.
But why would the Mets want a similarly-projected 1Bfor 40% less AAV and without the poisonous decline years.?
You hit in the nose. Two year commitment, at market value, for a hard nose, hard hitting 5 hole player. Wouldn’t be a bad play for probably a prospect 2+ years out.
Willson has been the 9th best RH bat in baseball the last 3 years.
What’s the cost for Contreras, Donovan and Arenado ? Taking on Arenado’s full contract should lessen the prospect return.
Adding veterans keeps the Mets in win-now mode. Who better to tutor Baty on playing 3B in the majors, than Nolan?
Wilson and Nolan can split time at 1B/DH
Donovan starts in LF.
Vientos, McNiel , Sproat and what ?
What gets it done ?
The Mets dont need to take on all of Arenados contract. And the Cardinals dont need McNeil.
The Cardinals would be thrilled to make it a two year, $15 Million commitment for the trading team, with little or no return coming back. Would cover the rest of the contract. Arenado could easily earn this value. Still HOF pedigree.
I think vientos and sproat is enough assuming cards like him
Contreras
Nootbaar
Arenado
Romero
for
Baty
Sproat
Vientos
I will never not think of Nootbaar when he got hit in his Nootbaar and feeling terrible. That said, he doesn’t help the Mets at this point in his career. You don’t trade Nimmo for an aging second baseman, to sign an outfielder on the wrong side of his career and lesser stats than his predecessor. If Stearns can find some talent at a more reasonable price for first base, than he should consider ponying up cash for a splurge like Bellinger.
FG projections
Alonso 126 wRC+, 2.3 WAR/600, -3 fielding
Contreras 116 wRC+, 2.1 WAR/585, 0.5 fielding
I think Contreras would fill in just fine for Pete
…at less than 2/3 of the cost, and without the albatross last 2 years. Makes so much sense.
And Willson is still learning 1B
Great! Let’s bring back Willie Montanez and Ellis Valentine
Keith Hernandez and Rusty Staub!
The only replacement for Alonso’s output was Schwarber and he went first. The fact that that didn’t light a fire under Stearns should be examined and have fans worried.
That said, you do have to move on. A trade for these two does make some sense in terms of filling holes, even if not adequately. You also have Vientos to toggle in with Conteras there and DH.
Yes……Nootbar and Gorman can go. They are backups at best. The problem is that the Cardinals know this and don’t want to move them because they don’t want to win again this year. The team screwed up the plans by being too good the first half of last season and staying in contention for too long. This year they want it to be beyond Pittsburgh bad.
If stl sold now on Noot, they would be giving up on his value returning after surgery, taking Noots value haircut now, and avoiding the risk of future ineffectiveness. For the win now NYM, how does targeting Noot (over Donovan) for LF make sense? The Nootbaar rumor is harder to imagine.
The Mets could sell a lot more Nootbaars. 😁
Image the Mets/Little Debbie marketing possibilities?
As a Cardinals fan, I would want a lot in return from the Mets.
They have several good, young pitchers from which to choose. The Mets match up well with the Cardinals.
The “durability” argument as in the article, treating it simplemindedly as a singular virtue, is usually a brainless one.
When Nimmo plays more than 150 games a year since 2022 he creates real problems for his team and does them no favors. The Mets, for example, foolishly let him indulge himself by continuing to play regularly through plantar fasciitis the last half of 2024, and Nimmo responded by putting up an abysmal .586 OPS his last 64 games and 279 PA.
As for Alonso, the more he plays the field, the more problems he causes as the worst defensive 1Bman in MLB. As with Nimmo, the Mets also let Alonso come back from a wrist fracture in 2023 after just nine games, and he was terrible at the plate for a month (.547 OPS in 111 PA) while depriving a prospect of a real chance to shine.
Pete Alonso: I have never been hurt and in my worst season I only had 90 RBIs
David Stearns: You’re not going to have your first bad season on my watch!