Mets Urged to Consider Trading Slugger With Uncertain Role

Will the New York Mets decide to trade a talented slugger?

Jul 13, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a New York Mets hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the eighth inning at Truist Park. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

With spring training kicking off for the New York Mets, the team will be focused on preparing for a bounce-back season in 2026. 

Following a plethora of changes this winter, the Mets are going to be a very different-looking team when Opening Day rolls around this year. After the 2025 collapse, making changes was to be expected for the franchise, and the front office certainly accomplished that. 

Even though they took some heat early on in the winter, the overall offseason has been considered a successful one for the franchise. They will undoubtedly be hoping that the moves they have made work out, but the roster still could see some changes before the campaign starts. 

Due to injuries around the league, new needs will still pop up for teams before the start of the season, and with free agency being limited at this point, they could elect to pursue trades. For the Mets, despite an active winter, they still have some appealing players that they could look to move in trades. 

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently wrote that the Mets should consider trading Mark Vientos to a contender. 

Moving Vientos Could Help Improve Pitching

Feb 17, 2026; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos (27) gets ready to bat during the New York Mets spring training workouts at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Due to a log jam in the infield, there are two players who have very uncertain roles on the team going into 2026. Those two players are Vientos and Brett Baty. At times, both have looked like key pieces of the team and potential building blocks for the lineup. 

Now, with a lot of new faces in the infield, playing time is going to be hard to come back for both of them. With that being said, moving one in a trade before Opening Day could make sense. Of the two, Vientos seems like he would be the more likely one to be moved. 

Baty is coming off a great year and has a little bit more positional flexibility than Vientos. However, the talented slugger should still have a good amount of trade value with him being under team control for the next few years, and he has showcased a high upside in 2024. 

If the Mets were to move him, the most likely return they would desire would be to help the pitching staff a bit. There is no such thing as having too much pitching, and adding another starter could only help the team. Overall, despite the start of the season right around the corner, moving Vientos to potentially help another area could make sense.

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