Mets To Begin Fielding Offers For Deadline Sell-Off
The deadline sale in Queens appears to be underway. Chelsea Janes of SNY and Jon Heyman of The New York Post each report that the 41-57 Mets are informing other teams they’re willing to begin trade conversations on the majority of the roster.
Both reports suggest the Mets aren’t interested in moving Juan Soto or any of their four core young players: Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing. Everyone else appears to be available, though the Mets obviously aren’t going to line up trades for 80% of their roster. Let’s run through some of the possibilities.
Big-Name Infielders On Huge Contracts
Francisco Lindor is signed for $32MM per season through 2031. He finished in the top 10 in MVP balloting each season from 2022-25. He’s not going to come close to that this year, as he’s hitting just .210/.291/.363 across 175 plate appearances. The five-time All-Star has had some unexpected defensive lapses and missed two months with a left calf strain.
The contract, lack of production and Lindor’s age (33 in November) all make him unlikely to move, as owner Steve Cohen acknowledged a few weeks ago in an appearance on The New York Post’s podcast. Lindor also has full no-trade protection as a player with 10-and-5 rights (10 years of service time, the last five of which have come with one team).
Bo Bichette doesn’t have the long-term commitment but is signed for $42MM annually for the 2027-28 seasons. He can opt out after this season or next. Most of Bichette’s 2026 commitments were paid out in the form of a $40MM signing bonus, so he’s only playing on a $2MM salary this year. It’s the future money and opt-out provisions that would prevent another team from taking on that commitment.
[Related: Mets Trade Deadline Outlook]
New York could contemplate some kind of conditional cash considerations for future seasons if Bichette doesn’t opt out. The two-time All-Star has an underwhelming .253/.297/.372 batting line through 417 plate appearances. Bichette has gotten going since the beginning of June. A trade would be complicated by the need to pay down a big portion of the contract for what’d be a middling prospect return, especially if the Mets view a hopefully resurgent Bichette as a key piece of the 2027 roster.
Shorter-Term Trade Chips
While a Lindor or Bichette trade would be a long shot, the Mets have a few other players they easily could — and probably will — move. Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes, A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley headline their group of impending free agents. (Holmes has a $12MM player option that he’s likely to decline.) Luke Weaver is playing on an $8MM salary and signed for next year at $11MM.
Peralta is one of the most obvious trade chips in the game. Extension talks this spring didn’t get far, seemingly due to a holdup on contract length. Peralta is having his worst season since his 2021 breakout, allowing a 4.66 ERA with a career-low 22.3% strikeout rate.
Those are fourth starter numbers, but he’ll still be a prime trade candidate one year removed from a top five finish in Cy Young voting. Peralta’s $8MM salary remains a bargain, and he’d be a lock to decline a qualifying offer if the Mets hold him all season. They’d only receive a compensatory pick after the fourth round if he signs elsewhere; they’ll do better than that in a trade within the next three weeks.
Holmes’ situation is more complicated, as he’s unlikely to pitch before the deadline as he rehabs a May fibula fracture. The 33-year-old righty had pitched well over his first nine starts. He’s a more realistic candidate to accept an approximate $23MM qualifying offer for next season if the Mets proposed it. Holmes says he’s open to an extension instead of a trade, and Janes writes that the sides are indeed expected to have those conversations before the August 3 deadline. Holmes’ trade value isn’t going to change over the next few weeks, so they could take the extension talks right up to the deadline before deciding on a course of action.
Minter and Raley are solid rental lefty relievers. The Mets will probably need to eat a portion of Minter’s $11MM salary. He has a 1.42 ERA with 17 strikeouts and only one walk in 19 innings since returning from last year’s lat surgery. Minter’s average fastball speed has dipped to a career-low 92.9 mph and he’s not missing quite as many bats as he did during his best seasons with the Braves. He has plenty of high-leverage experience and is still getting excellent results, though.
Raley is a soft tosser who excels at avoiding hard contact. He’s playing on an affordable $4.75MM contract and owns a 2.02 ERA through 35 2/3 innings. He has fanned a quarter of opponents against a 9.3% walk rate. Even if it’s not the flashiest profile, he’s a clear fit for a contending bullpen and a virtual lock to be moved.
Weaver is the best of New York’s bullpen trade chips. The 32-year-old righty has been their top free agent signing from last winter. Weaver hadn’t allowed an earned run since the end of April until giving up a Trea Turner solo home run tonight. He has fired 40 frames of 2.03 ERA ball while striking out 28% of opponents against a 7.1% walk percentage. He’s getting swinging strikes at a 15% rate and while the Mets have used him in a setup role, he had a bit of closing experience with the Yankees. The extra year under contract gives the Mets a little more leverage, but they’re likely to cash him in at the deadline when trade prices for relievers are highest.
Controllable Trade Candidates
Among this group, it’s most notable that the Mets apparently aren’t completely shutting the door on catcher Francisco Alvarez. He popped two home runs tonight and is up to a .259/.325/.448 line on the season. Alvarez is a clear step below the game’s best catchers, but he’s a well above-average hitter for the position with legitimate plus power. There are more questions defensively, as he’s prone to passed balls and not great at controlling the running game. He did grade very highly as a pitch framer early in his career but has tailed off in that regard over the last two seasons.
The Mets control the 24-year-old backstop for three seasons beyond this one. It’d be a surprise if they moved him, though it seems they’re at least open to the possibility of another team blowing them away. Alvarez has been nicked up a couple times over the last two seasons, missing time with hand injuries last year and meniscus surgery in his right knee this season.
New York could probably get a bigger haul for Alvarez than for any of their other plausible trade candidates. It’d leave them without a clear answer behind the plate in 2027. They don’t have any top catching prospects waiting in the wings. The Mets extended backup catcher Luis Torrens in May, but he’s a defensive specialist who fits best as a complementary player. If they did trade Alvarez, they’d probably need to make a free agent run at Ryan Jeffers, Tyler Stephenson or Carson Kelly in the offseason.
Huascar Brazobán is an under-the-radar bullpen chip. He’s cheaply controllable for three more seasons, but the late bloomer is approaching his 37th birthday. That’s not the kind of player a selling team is going to take off the market. Brazobán has a 2.70 ERA with a league average strikeout rate and 54% grounder percentage across 46 2/3 innings. His below-average command might keep him in middle relief for a contender. The affordability and an excellent sinker-changeup combination should draw attention from other clubs.
Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos have found themselves in rumors for years. They’re all having rough 2026 campaigns. Baty was an above-average regular last season and seems the most desirable of the trio as a change of scenery candidate. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes that the Mets are expected to receive interest in Baty, albeit more as a buy-low type.
Vientos popped 27 homers two seasons ago but hasn’t hit since then and has no defensive value. He’s also out of options. Mauricio will be out of options next year. He’s a former top prospect with big tools but an extremely aggressive approach which big league pitchers have exploited in his scattered looks. He’s a .226/.278/.345 hitter in 104 career games and currently in Triple-A. Mauricio and Vientos might both be fighting to hold spots on a 40-man roster by next spring. They’ll have modest value at best.
Underwater Contracts
It’s no surprise the Mets would be willing to discuss players like Jorge Polanco, Sean Manaea, Luis Robert Jr., Kodai Senga, Devin Williams and Marcus Semien — all of whom are on unappealing contracts. The Mets could find a taker for Williams if they paid some of his $51MM deal down, though that might not be worth it considering they’re already going to need to replace a lot of the aforementioned relievers.
Robert, currently rehabbing from a back injury, could net a lottery ticket type prospect if the Mets eat the remainder of his $20MM salary. Manaea has been alright as a starter, but the Mets would again need to cover most of his $25MM salaries for this year and next. Polanco, Senga and Semien seem pretty close to immovable given their respective contracts and performances/injuries this year.
Mets Select Zack Short
The Mets announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Zack Short and recalled right-hander Tobias Myers. In corresponding moves, right-hander Dan Hammer has been designated for assignment and infielder Mark Vientos has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hand fracture. MLBTR previously covered the Hammer DFA and Vientos IL placement.
Short, 31, is a light-hitting infielder. He is in his sixth big league season and has 649 plate appearances under his belt, but he has produced a dreary .171/.271/.289 line in those. Publicly available defensive metrics don’t much like his glovework either. For instance, in almost 1,000 innings at shortstop, he has been credited with minus-three Defensive Runs Saved and -11 Outs Above Average. DRS and OAA frown on his third base work as well. DRS likes him at second base but OAA has him a hair below par.
Presumably, teams have internal metrics that rank him higher, as he has continually gotten opportunities as a glove-first infielder. The Mets are seemingly one of those clubs. They claimed him off waivers from the Tigers in June. He was designated for assignment later that month but then cleared waivers and went to Triple-A Syracuse, which allowed him to get added back to the roster today.
Vientos is slated to miss a notable amount of time. He tells Tim Britton of The Athletic that he won’t require surgery but will probably miss six to eight weeks. That timeline will eat up most of the remainder of the season.
With Vientos and Marcus Semien on the shelf, the Mets are left with an infield group consisting of Bo Bichette, Francisco Lindor, Brett Baty and Jared Young from left to right. Jorge Polanco came off the IL this week but has only been serving as the designated hitter so far. Short gives them some cover around the dirt for injuries or potential late-game switches. If they want to bump him off the roster at any point in the future, he is out of options.
Photo courtesy of Aaron Doster, Imagn Images
Mets To Place Mark Vientos On IL With Hand Fracture
Mets infielder Mark Vientos is going to be out a while. He was hit by a pitch on his right hand today. In his post-game press conference, as relayed by SNY Mets, interim manager Andy Green said Vientos has suffered a fracture and will be placed on the injured list. Green did not provide a timeline but it seems fair to expect Vientos to miss several weeks.
As seen in this video from MLB.com, Vientos was facing Michael Wacha in the bottom of the second inning. Vientos checked his swing as the pitch from Wacha ran inside and hit his right hand. He was in obvious discomfort. He stayed in the game to run but was replaced in the game defensively in the top of the third.
For the Mets’ season, losing Vientos isn’t necessarily a huge deal. The club has a 40-54 record and is 11.5 games out of a playoff spot. They are going to go into the August 3rd deadline as sellers regardless. Vientos wasn’t going to save the season, especially since he is having a down year, with a .211/.256/.388 slash line and 77 wRC+.
The injury could perhaps impact the summer trade market, however, as Vientos was a potential candidate to be moved. As mentioned, the Mets are lined up to be sellers. They will likely focus on moving impending free agents. That doesn’t apply to Vientos but there would have been reasons for the Mets to listen regardless. He is controlled for three more seasons after this one but is out of options and trending towards a potential non-tender, as he will qualify for arbitration after this campaign.
He showed huge potential with a 27-homer season in 2024, slashing .266/.322/.516 for a 132 wRC+. But he dropped to a .233/.289/.413 line and 97 wRC+ last year. As mentioned, his production has fallen even farther this season. He is not a great defender, so he really needs to hit to provide value. It’s possible the Mets don’t have him in their 2027 plans.
Despite all of that, he could have had appeal to another club. Even as his numbers have declined, he has still hit lefties. He had a .250/.287/.453 line and 105 wRC+ in that split last year. This year, though his overall production is way down, he has a .281/.316/.539 line and 136 wRC+ when facing southpaws. Perhaps some contending club with a lefty-heavy lineup could have found a role for him.
Assuming this injury is going to last for several weeks, a trade should become less likely. Injured players can be traded but other clubs would presumably prioritize healthy guys who have similar profiles.
With Vientos out, the Mets could recall guys like Ronny Mauricio, MJ Melendez or Nick Morabito, who are all on the 40-man roster. Mauricio was just optioned two days when Jorge Polanco came off the IL, so perhaps he is the most likely. Position players normally have to wait ten days after being optioned before they can be recalled but an exception is made if another player is going on the injured list.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
Mets Prefer Trade Market To Free Agency In Rotation Search
The Mets are still in the market for upgrades to their starting pitching group, but they prefer to bolster the rotation by way of a trade rather than via free agency, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic report.
It’s not exactly a surprising revelation. We’re one month removed from initial reporting that the Mets were reluctant to sign a free agent pitcher to a long-term contract, and the Mets have since shown aversions to long-term deals for incumbent stars like Edwin Diaz and especially Pete Alonso — both of whom have now signed elsewhere. The Mets also traded the remaining five years of Brandon Nimmo‘s contract for three of Marcus Semien. It seems there’s a real push to avoid clogging up the long-term books with many major deals beyond the lengthy commitments to Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor.
It’s worth noting, too, that the Mets are deep in both top prospects and young big leaguers that could be marketed to other clubs. Their farm system is generally regarded as one of the ten best in the game. Following this year’s draft and trade deadline, Baseball America ranked the Mets’ system ninth in the game. MLB.com ranked it seventh. BA counts five Mets prospects (Carson Benge, Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, Jett Williams, Brandon Sproat) among the top 100 in the game. Young infielders Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña are all available in trade talks as well, per Rosenthal and Sammon.
One of the market’s most notable trade candidates, Miami righty Edward Cabrera, came off the board yesterday when he was traded to the Cubs for a three-player package headlined by top young outfielder Owen Caissie. Presumably, the Mets would’ve had to pay an even steeper price as a division rival, but Cabrera’s removal from the market only thins out the supply and creates more urgency among teams still looking for meaningful rotation upgrades (e.g. Mets, Yankees, Orioles, D-backs, Padres).
The Mets have been connected to a handful of possible trade targets this winter. They’ve reportedly spoken to the Padres about Nick Pivetta and to the Brewers about Freddy Peralta. They were also among the teams in on Cabrera and had some interest in Minnesota’s Joe Ryan before the Twins signaled that they’re not planning to move him (or rotation-mate Pablo Lopez). They’ve surely at least checked in on other prominent and under-the-radar names on the market alike.
The Mets went to three years to sign Devin Williams in free agency, acquired three years of Semien and (reportedly) were unwilling to go beyond three years for Pete Alonso. Their free-agent deals with infielder Jorge Polanco and righty Luke Weaver only span a two-year term. There’s been no firm indication that they’re wholly against surpassing three years for any free agent, but that certainly seems to be the team’s comfort zone with additions to the roster.
In fact, since being named president of baseball operations, David Stearns hasn’t committed more than three years to any free agent other than Soto, whose signing was more of an ownership-level move. Stearns’ largest signing after Soto was Sean Manaea, whose three-year, $75MM deal contains more than $23MM in deferred money. Currently, the Mets only have four players on guaranteed contracts in 2028 (Soto, Lindor, Williams, Semien). By 2029, Soto and Lindor are the only two players on the books.
If there’s a reluctance to guarantee players anything into 2029 and beyond, as at least ostensibly seems to the be the case, that’ll make it quite difficult to land any of the top remaining free agent names. The Mets sat down with Framber Valdez back in November, and Rosenthal and Sammon indicate that there’s still some interest there. Of course, signing Valdez would surely require going beyond three years — likely to at least a five-year pact. Ranger Suarez, like Valdez, figures to be looking for at least a five-year deal in free agency. If either pitcher lingers into February or March, perhaps they’ll pivot to a shorter-term deal with opt-out opportunities. Beyond that, a match with the Mets seems hard to envision — at least based on the team’s recent tendencies under the current baseball operations regime.
RosterResource currently projects the Mets for a $294MM payroll and just over $296MM of luxury-tax obligations. That puts the Mets about $8MM shy of the top tier of penalization, which they’ve crossed in each of the past four seasons. They currently owe a 95% tax on any dollars spent up to $304MM worth of tax obligations. From that point on, they’ll be taxed at a 110% rate for every dollar spent.
Poll: Should The Mets Trade Mark Vientos?
After losing Pete Alonso to the Orioles in free agency and trading Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers, the Mets will need to reconfigure their lineup in a big way this winter. They’ve already added some of the pieces with which they’ll try to do that, bringing in Marcus Semien as the return for Nimmo and following that up by signing Jorge Polanco, but there’s clearly more work to do. It’s with that backdrop that reporting yesterday indicated the Mets could look to trade infielder Mark Vientos this winter, perhaps while eyeing the addition of a big bat to the lineup.
Trading Vientos certainly has some merit. The 26-year-old was a merely league average hitter by the numbers this year, with a 97 wRC+ thanks to his 40 extra-base hits (including 17 homers) propping up a paltry .289 on-base percentage. That sort of production won’t cut it for a poor defensive third baseman who figures to get the majority of his playing time at first base or DH next year, but his youth and power potential could still be enough to catch the eye of some teams in need of right-handed pop in their lineup, with the Mets perhaps getting some pitching back in return.
With that being said, trading Vientos wouldn’t come without risk. Still in his mid-20s, Vientos has already demonstrated the ability to potentially be an All-Star caliber bat. In 2024, he slashed .266/.322/.516 (132 wRC+) with 27 homers in 111 games. It was a strong enough performance to play as a regular at first base or overlook his defensive deficiencies at the hot corner. If the youngster can rediscover that form, he would offer the Mets a major boost. After all, the Mets themselves need additional righty pop in the lineup after losing Alonso. Letting their veteran slugger walk was already tough for fans to stomach and it would surely get even worse if Alonso’s heir apparent was traded away and broke out somewhere else.
How likely is a return to form for Vientos? The underlying metrics are mixed. Vientos didn’t live up to his expected numbers last year, which could be a sign that some positive regression is on the way. He actually lowered his strikeout rate substantially, dropping from 29.7% in 2024 to just 24.8% this year. Those are good signs and his .277 BABIP this season seems likely to improve going forward. With all of that being said, however, there are certainly some red flags. While his BABIP is likely to improve from last year, it’s unlikely to reach the level of his .324 mark from 2024. While his strikeout rate dropped by nearly five points, his once-elite barrel rate dropped by nearly three. In all likelihood, his true talent level lies somewhere between his weak 2025 and his impressive 2024.
The question then becomes about which side of the spectrum Vientos is more likely to fall on. If he figures to offer a bat with a wRC+ of 120 or greater on a consistent basis going forward, that would be hard to part with for a team in need of right-handed power like the Mets. With that said, if Vientos is more likely to be just a touch better than league average this year, it would be fair to wonder if the Mets would be better off focusing on adding a more impactful player like Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami to the first base/DH mix.
Perhaps going with a free agent hitter in Vientos’s place and turning Vientos into a trade chip for pitching would be a smart call. Despite his uneven performance, other clubs would surely be interested in him, especially since he’s cheap. He has not yet qualified for arbitration and can be controlled for four full seasons before he’s slated for free agency.
With that said, it’s also worth considering how a more expensive addition like Okamoto or Murakami could impact the Mets’ ability to pursue an impactful outfielder. Cody Bellinger has been tied to the Mets frequently this winter, and while the rumors connecting the club to Kyle Tucker haven’t been nearly as ubiquitous, the possibility of a deal there is worth considering given the club’s need for outfield help and the small numbers of teams that could realistically meet his rumored asking price. If sticking with Vientos gave the Mets a better shot to land a big outfield bat, then perhaps the club would be better off keeping Vientos in the fold and trying to deal other young players and prospects for pitching help.
How do MLBTR readers think the Mets should proceed with Vientos? Should they keep him, risking an underwhelming 2026 season in order to keep their focus on improving the outfield in free agency? Or should they trade him and risk a breakout elsewhere in order to add more certainty to the lineup? Have your say in the poll below:
Should The Mets Trade Mark Vientos This Winter?
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Yes 62% (3,506)
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No 38% (2,172)
Total votes: 5,678
Mets Making Mark Vientos Available In Trade Talks
The Mets are informing teams that corner infielder/designated hitter Mark Vientos is available in trade conversations, writes Jorge Castillo of ESPN. That aligns with reporting from Will Sammon of The Athletic, who wrote last night that the Mets were willing to discuss each of Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña.
Vientos looked like a lineup building block at this time last year. The righty-hitting infielder was coming off a 27-homer season in which he’d hit .266/.322/.516 across 454 regular season plate appearances. He was even better in the playoffs, blasting five homers and a pair of doubles while hitting .327 across 13 games. Vientos was a huge reason the Mets made it to the 2024 NL Championship Series. He would have been the heir apparent at first base had Pete Alonso found a robust enough market to price him out of Queens.
Instead, Alonso returned on a short-term deal. That came shortly after the Mets had re-signed Jesse Winker as their designated hitter against right-handed pitching. Vientos moved back to third base, where he has never been a good defender. The numbers were predictably ugly. Defensive Runs Saved had him 10 runs below average in just 556 innings. Statcast had him at six runs below par.
Defensive struggles were to be expected. More surprising is that Vientos’ bat also significantly regressed. He only hit 17 homers with a .233/.289/.413 slash line in a similar amount of playing time as he had in 2024. The underlying numbers were more encouraging. Vientos made hard contact (an exit velocity of 95 MPH or higher) on half his batted balls. He cut his strikeout rate by five percentage points from an alarming 29.7% clip.
He probably didn’t change all that much as a hitter, but the regression suggested his ’24 level of play wasn’t sustainable either. Vientos had a career-high .324 average on balls in play that year. Among hitters with 400+ plate appearances, only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani had seen a higher percentage of their fly balls clear the fences. Vientos has big power but was unlikely to keep that kind of company. As is often the case, his true talent likely lies somewhere in between his numbers of the last two years. He’s an annual threat for 25+ home runs but has a worrying enough plate discipline and contact profile that he’s not going to post strong on-base percentages.
Alonso’s free agent departure opens the door for Vientos to carve out regular first base or DH reps with the Mets. He shouldn’t get much playing time at third base anymore, as the Marcus Semien acquisition pushed Brett Baty firmly to the hot corner. The Mets are in agreement with Jorge Polanco on a two-year, $40MM contract and intend to play him mostly at first base. Polanco’s history of knee issues suggests he’ll probably need a decent number of DH at-bats. They could keep Vientos and have him split playing time with Polanco between those positions.
However, Sammon wrote last night that the Mets are kicking around possibilities to add another bat-first player. Acquiring a left fielder might not impact Vientos’ path to playing time, but bringing in a traditional first baseman or DH would push him out of the projected lineup. He’s out of minor league options, so a trade would seem almost inevitable at that point.
The Mets reportedly discussed Vientos with teams going back to the trade deadline. He was linked to the White Sox as the Mets kicked the tires on Luis Robert Jr., though New York balked at that framework. Robert suffered another injury shortly after the deadline and is now set to make $20MM. It’d be a surprise if the Mets give up four years of control over Vientos for him, even though they could still use a better center fielder than Tyrone Taylor to bridge the gap to prospect Carson Benge.
Acuña and Mauricio have also found themselves in trade rumors for months. Both players’ stocks are down. Acuña, 24 in March, is a good defensive infielder but owns a .248/.299/.341 line in 233 MLB plate appearances. He hasn’t hit much at the Triple-A level either and is out of options. Maybe another team thinks he’d be a Gold Glove caliber shortstop who can fit at the bottom of a lineup, but he increasingly looks like a utility player.
Mauricio is approaching his 25th birthday and coming off a .226/.293/.369 showing over 184 plate appearances. He’s a switch-hitting infielder with huge power but significant plate discipline questions. Mauricio debuted at the end of the 2023 season and missed the entire ’24 campaign after tearing his right ACL in winter ball. He still has an option remaining and is a boom or bust player who probably fits better on a non-contending team that can live with inconsistency at the plate.
Mets Discussing Mark Vientos In Trade Talks
The Mets are clear buyers this summer with a 1.5 game lead over the Phillies for control of the NL East, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible that they would deal from their big league roster. As the club seeks help in multiple areas of it’s roster, Andy Martino of SNY reports that the club has been discussing infielder Mark Vientos with rival clubs ahead of this week’s trade deadline. He adds that teams have inquired after not only Vientos but also fellow infield youngsters Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio, though Martino notes that teams have come away with the belief that Vientos is the most available of those three names.
It’s a position that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. The 25-year-old enjoyed a breakout season last year when he slashed .266/.332/.516 with 27 homers and 22 doubles across just 111 games. That seemed to position Vientos as the club’s third baseman of the future in spite of his lackluster work with the glove last season. Unfortunately for the Mets and Vientos, however, things have gone off the rails this year. The Mets were surely hoping that his glove would improve at least somewhat with time, but he’s remained one of the worst defenders in the sport this year. This time, however, his offense isn’t carrying the overall package. Vientos has slashed just .226/.280/.358 (81 wRC+) across 73 games this year amid a power outage that’s seen his barrel rate collapse from 14.1% last year to just 7.3% in 2025.
With Vientos unproductive on both offense and defense, he’s arguably expendable on a club with better options at first base (Pete Alonso) and DH (Starling Marte). Baty, Mauricio, Luisangel Acuna and Jeff McNeil can all hold their own on the infield as well, to say nothing of the anticipated eventual return of Jesse Winker from the injured list, at which point he’ll likely return to sharing time with Marte at DH. All of those options leave Vientos somewhat squeezed out of the mix for playing time, but another club could look at Vientos’s 2024 performance and the fact that he remains under team control through the end of the 2029 season and see an opportunity to buy low on a bat with an All-Star caliber ceiling.
The White Sox, for instance, have interest in Vientos according to a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Nightengale suggests that the Sox would want Vientos in return for center fielder Luis Robert Jr. after months of connections between Robert and the Mets in the rumor mill. Robert’s value is unlikely to be high enough to land Vientos in a one-for-one trade at this point, though speculatively speaking it’s at least possible he could be had if Robert was packaged with pitching help that would help address New York’s other needs.
Chicago is far from the only team that should have interest in Vientos if he’s available, however. The Diamondbacks are primarily targeting young pitching, but Vientos would be an intriguing fit given the recent loss of first baseman Josh Naylor and the club’s impending plans to trade third baseman Eugenio Suarez in the coming days. The Padres are dangling Dylan Cease in hopes of adding a bat or two this summer, and Vientos’s combination of upside and cheap team control could be attractive to a cash-strapped contender. The Rays are always creative and appear to be at least considering dealing incumbent first baseman Yandy Diaz this summer. The Red Sox are in need of first base help and could benefit from another right-handed bat in their lineup.
A handful of those clubs mentioned remain in playoff contention alongside the Mets, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a pair of buy-side GMs managed to get creative and work out a trade that benefits both clubs. Vientos should have broad appeal to teams looking for help on the infield corners or at DH regardless of their competitive timeline thanks to his combination of near-term upside and long-term team control. Of course, it’s far from a lock that the Mets will actually move Vientos. New York stands to benefit as much as anyone from the slugger’s upside in 2026 and beyond, particularly in the likely event that Alonso opts out of his contract this winter. Even in 2025, the depth Vientos provides could prove essential in the event of an injury sidelining a player like Marte or any of the club’s infielders. While the slugger isn’t the key cog in the Mets’ lineup he was last year, all the traits that make him an attractive buy-low candidate would make it difficult for the club’s front office to justify selling low on him.
Mets Willing To Trade From Infield Depth
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.
Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles
3:40pm: Canning underwent surgery this morning, Mendoza tells reporters (via Laura Albanese of Newsday). Tidwell is indeed available out of the bullpen tonight, but the plan moving forward will eventually be for him to step into Canning’s rotation spot.
2:32pm: The Mets announced that right-hander Griffin Canning has been placed on the 60-day injured list with a ruptured left Achilles. They also optioned right-hander Austin Warren and infielder Jared Young. To fill those three spots, infielder Mark Vientos has been reinstated from the 10-day IL, righty Blade Tidwell has been recalled and left-hander Colin Poche has been selected to the roster. The Mets added that lefty Richard Lovelady, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has cleared waivers and elected free agency. Outfielder Jose Azocar, who recently elected free agency himself, has been re-signed to a new minor league deal.
The Canning news is devastating but not surprising. He had to be helped off the field last night, clearly unable to put weight on his left leg. It immediately appeared to be an Achilles injury and manager Carlos Mendoza admitted after the game that the club suspected as much.
The Mets haven’t yet relayed an expected timeline but it’s fair to conclude Canning’s season is over. An injury like this can often take a full year to recover from. Given that half the 2025 season is already in the books, Canning is surely going to miss the remainder and likely part of the 2026 campaign as well.
It’s a terrible break for the 29-year-old Canning, a former second-round pick and top prospect with the Angels. He’d looked on the cusp of establishing himself as a regular rotation member in Anaheim back in 2019-20 before a stress reaction in his back wiped out most of his 2021 season and all of his 2022 campaign. He returned with solid numbers in 2023 before crashing with a 5.19 ERA in 31 starts last season. The Halos traded him to the Braves for Jorge Soler in a swap of unwanted salaries following the 2024 season, and Atlanta ultimately non-tendered him.
The Mets brought a fresh start for Canning, and he looked to be taking full advantage. The right-hander has started 16 games and pitched 76 1/3 innings of 3.77 ERA ball, fanning 21.3% of his opponents with a huge 50.9% grounder rate — albeit against a less-encouraging 10.7% walk rate. Canning was terrific up through early June (2.90 ERA) but in the three starts prior to his injury had been tagged for 13 runs in 14 1/3 frames.
Even with that rough stretch, Canning looked well on his way to positioning himself for a nice multi-year deal on the open market. He could still command a two-year deal, in theory, but it’d be small in scale with a backloaded salary structure to reflect the uncertainty surrounding the first year of his contract — similar to the one former Angels rotation-mate Patrick Sandoval signed with the Red Sox.
As for the rest of the Mets’ transactions, a couple were expected. Vientos said yesterday that he was told he’d be activated today. He’ll return after a nearly monthlong absence due to a hamstring strain and hope to get back on track. The 26-year-old broke out with a .266/.322/.516 batting line (133 wRC+) and 27 home runs in just 111 games last year, seemingly cementing himself as a fixture at one of the infield corners for years to come.
That may still be the case, but Vientos hasn’t looked the part so far in 2025, slashing just .230/.298/.380. He’s actually cut his strikeout rate and improved his walk rate while continuing to hit the ball hard, however, creating good reason to be optimistic about a turnaround. The Mets have been waiting for some combination of their long-vaunted quartet of infielders — Vientos, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Luisangel Acuña — to seize spots around the infield, and that’s yet to happen. A return to form for Vientos would be a step in that direction and a boon for a Mets lineup that has struggled in recent weeks.
Tidwell was reported to be joining the Mets last night as well. The Mets’ second-round pick in 2022, he’s regarded as one of the system’s most promising young arms. His two starts earlier this year didn’t go well (eight runs in 7 1/3 innings), and the 24-year-old is coming off a tough start in Triple-A, where he served up six runs to the Yankees’ top affiliate. Prior to that ugly outing, he’d rattled off a 3.55 ERA with a 28.9% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate in 45 2/3 innings across eight starts. He’ll be in the bullpen for now, per SNY’s Andy Martino, which makes sense with David Peterson, Paul Blackburn and Frankie Montas lined up for weekend starts against the Pirates and an off-day on Monday.
Poche, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Mets back in May. He opened the season with the division-rival Nationals but was rocked for 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings before being cut loose. The Mets themselves contributed to that damage, tagging him for a run in two-thirds of an inning during a late-April meeting.
Ugly as that brief stint was, Poche had a nice track record in four prior seasons with the Rays, pitching to a combined 3.63 ERA with a 27% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate in 208 1/3 innings. Since signing with the Mets, he’s pitched 12 2/3 innings down in Syracuse, logging a 4.26 ERA with an uncharacteristic and alarming 17.9% walk rate.
If Lovelady’s tenure with the Mets is any sort of indication, it could be a brief stay on the big league roster for Poche. The 29-year-old opted out of a minor league deal with the Twins earlier this month, signed a big league deal with the Mets and was designated for assignment after just one appearance (two runs in 1 2/3 innings). Lovelady was excellent in Triple-A with Minnesota and has a nice track record at that level. He’s shown consistent ability to generate grounders, miss bats and limit walks at passable levels, but he’s struggled with men on base in the majors and limped to a 5.35 ERA in 102 2/3 innings across parts of six seasons.
Azocar, also 29, appeared in a dozen games with the Mets earlier this year and hit .278/.350/.278 in 20 plate appearances. He’s a righty-swinging, glove-first outfielder with good speed who can handle left, center and right on any given day. The former Padre is a career .244/.290/.319 hitter in 418 major league plate appearances.
Mets Notes: Vientos, Manaea, Outfield
Mets third baseman Mark Vientos, out more than three weeks due to a hamstring strain, tells the team’s beat that he expects to be activated from the injured list tomorrow (via Will Sammon of The Athletic). The Mets will need to make a decision as to how they’ll create active roster space for Vientos. Fellow young infielders Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio are both struggling at the moment, as is outfielder/designated hitter Jared Young.
The 25-year-old Baty shook off a terrible start to the season, finding his swing in mid-April and slashing .296/.352/.580 over his next 89 plate appearances. That production came in a fairly limited role — those 89 turns at the plate came over a span of about six weeks — but it was encouraging from the former top prospect. He’s since fallen back into a swoon, hitting just .179/.233/.299 this month (albeit with five hits in his past three games).
Mauricio, 24, has popped three homers in 62 plate appearances but slashed only .224/.274/.414 overall. He’s fanned at a 30.6% clip and has just eight hits in his past 41 plate appearances (including a home run last night). That marks his first MLB action since 2023. He missed the entire 2024 season after suffering a torn ACL during winter ball in the 2023-24 offseason.
Young, 29, is a journeyman in his first season with the Mets organization. The former Cubs and Cardinals farmhand posted huge numbers in the Korea Baseball Organization last year and has produced well in Triple-A Syracuse, but he’s hitting just .171/.227/.415 in 44 big league plate appearances. Like Mauricio, he’s swatted three homers in minimal playing time but generally struggled outside that flash of power.
Both Baty and Mauricio are in the last of their option years. Mauricio was already optioned once this season but spent fewer than 20 days in the minors and thus technically has not yet burned that final option year. Young has still has an option remaining beyond the current season.
A healthy Vientos could go a long way toward rejuvenating some of the Mets’ floundering offense — at least if he can get back to his 2024 form. The former second-round pick broke out with a .266/.322/.516 slash and 27 homers in just 111 games last year, but he’s hitting only .230/.298/.380 in 2025 — despite lowering his strikeout rate from 29.7% to 23.6%.
The Mets are also eagerly awaiting the return of left-hander Sean Manaea. The rotation suffered a pair of losses in the past two weeks, with both Kodai Senga (hamstring) and Tylor Megill (elbow) hitting the injured list. Frankie Montas returned and pitched well in his season debut this week, which helps to patch over some of that lost depth, but Manaea was arguably the Mets’ best starter down the stretch last season and is ticketed for a key role in the rotation.
Manaea has been out with an oblique strain. He was gearing up for a return and progressing through a rehab assignment when, earlier this week, imaging revealed a loose body in his elbow. President of baseball operations David Stearns downplayed concerns that it’s a serious issue. Manaea received an injection and was shut down for a couple days. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports that Manaea is playing catch today — his first throwing since that injection — and remains on track to return at some point next week.
Setbacks or new injuries for any of Senga, Megill, Montas or Manaea could guide the Mets’ approach at the trade deadline, but for now it seems the expectation is that there are no catastrophic injuries among them. Megill is about 10 days into what’s expected to be an absence of four to five weeks, at least, but that’s the longest-reaching outlook.
A greater need at the deadline could rest in the outfield. Mets outfielders are among the most productive group in the majors overall, but a disproportionate amount of that production has come from scorching-hot Juan Soto and continued steady production from Brandon Nimmo in left field. Mets center fielders are batting just .240/.302/.364 as a group this season, and the resulting 88 wRC+ checks in 18th in the majors. Even that modest batting line is a bit misleading, as it includes productive small-sample output from both Nimmo and Jeff McNeil. Tyrone Taylor has received the lion’s share of center field reps in 2025 but batted just .227/.284/.333 when patrolling the position. Jose Siri, José Azocar and Luisangel Acuña have combined for 31 plate appearances in center field and hit poorly as well.
McNeil is doing fine work at the plate and even robbed Marcell Ozuna of a home run in center the other day, but he had all of 16 major league innings of experience at the position entering the season. The Mets are currently choosing between McNeil’s hot bat and Taylor’s steady glove in center on any given day, but an acquisition could change that.
SNY’s Andy Martino writes that he expects the Mets to be in the market for a center fielder over the next five weeks, speculating on the possibility of Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins and Boston’s Jarren Duran. There’s no indication the Mets have reached out to inquire on either AL East outfielder, to be clear, nor have either the Orioles or Red Sox signaled that they’re planning to operate as deadline sellers. Still, given the struggles of most of the Mets’ center fielders, it’s a natural area of focus, and those would be two logical targets among a broader base of possible trade candidates.
If two of Vientos, Baty, Mauricio and Acuña were hitting well enough to justify regular playing time, perhaps living with McNeil playing out of position in center would be more palatable. As it is, with that quartet scuffling — Acuña has already been optioned to Syracuse — there’s an argument to be made that the Mets ought to shift McNeil back to the more familiar position and explore some center field possibilities as the deadline draws nearer. There’s still plenty of time for that group of young infielders to get right at the plate, and their performance over the next month will be telling, as it’ll likely have a direct impact on the team’s goals.