Rumors surrounding the New York Mets are a cottage industry these days, and the latest round of scuttlebutt has the Mets considering a variety of defensive moves as they also field interest in a possible trade for starter Kodai Senga. 

The defense-first moves are intriguing, to say the least. They include upgrading at second base, which would be a welcome change, while asking veteran infielder Jeff McNeil to play more first base, according to a piece written by Will Sammon of The Athletic. 

Other infielders like Brett Baty and Mark Vientos are also on the table as first base option, although Baty went into this offseason as a viable possibility to open next season as a starter at third. 

Relying on Vientos in any capacity would be a far riskier move, given that he went from being a staple in the middle of the Mets order to a player who collapsed so badly at the plate and in the field that he was basically a part timer by the end of the year. 

The source of all this internal speculation is the possible departure of first baseman Pete Alonso, of course. According to Sammon, GM Davis Stearns has stated that he wants to improve “run prevention,” which would seem to rule out both an Alonso return and the signing slugging corner infielder Munetaka Murakami, who represents a possible power bat. 

Plenty of options are on the table, and that’s also the case with a trade for pitcher Kodai Senga, who is considered a “buy low” option given his injury last year that was followed by a collapse in his mechanics. 

The Mets need reliable starters, so they’ll certainly listen to viable offers for Senga, especially given that he’s 32 with a contract that pays him just $14 million a year for the next two seasons. There are questions surrounding all of New York’s veteran starters, with that group including Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes and David Peterson. 

League sources are telling Sammon that the Mets are only expected to add one starter unless there’s some subtraction involved due to a trade, which leads to an automatic mention of that blockbuster trade for Detroit stud starter Tarik Skubal that’s been making the rounds for the last month or so. 

None of this is definitive, and we’ll likely get even more rumors from the GM meetings in Las Vegas this week. These meetings have featured more smoke than fire in recent years, but there are trades and signings that happen, especially for teams that want to get their lineup and rotation settled as early as possible. That doesn't sound like the Mets at the moment, but given how long their offseason to-do list is, there could be some action this week.