It’s not exactly hard to find rumors about the New York Mets and their potential offseason moves these days, but there’s one player who’s being left out of the conversation entirely. 

That would be infielder Mark Vientos, who’s barely mentioned in any of the rumors. He was a staple in the middle of the New York Mets lineup in 2024, but last year the infielder's performance  collapsed as completely as the Mets did. 

So what happened here, exactly? It’s worth a deeper dive, especially since Vientos remains a viable trade piece as a classic “change of scenery” player. His trade value is tough to calculate, though, simply because is drop-off was so dramatic. 

Start with the good stats. Vientos hit 27 home runs to go with an average of .266 and an OPS of .837 in 2024. That’s not normally a player you trade, especially since the third baseman is just 25. 

But this season was bad, and what made it more noticeable was his defensive collapse. Vientos still has 17 home runs to go with an OPS of .702, but his defensive issues made hit struggles even more noticeable, especially when manager Carlos Mendoza criticized his footwork. He barely made it into the lineup during the second half of the season, and when he did it was mostly as a DH. 

According to Brian Murphy of MLB.com, though, Vientos did have some good offensive numbers in 2025. He hit 10 home runs during his final 38 games, and he still had a slugging percentage of .535 over his last 145 plate appearances. There were flashes here and there, along with an occasional clutch home run. 

But the Mets can’t afford to gamble that he’ll rebound this year. Infielder Brett Baty has already established himself as a viable potential starter at third base, and most of the Mets concerns are on the other side of the infield, where the potential absence of free agent first baseman Pete Alonso remains an open question. The Mets are also looking to get better defensively at second, which makes Vientos a forgotten man. 

He’ll likely find a home elsewhere, probably as a trade piece. There are plenty of teams that would love to have a young corner infielder who can hit 20+ home runs, especially some small market clubs operating on a low budget. The Mets need to find value for Vientos if they do decide to move him, and he would be an especially intriguing add-on as part of a larger trade.