With infield depth overflowing, the Mets might deal Vientos to Pittsburgh, securing pitching and prospects in a hypothetical last-minute move.
The New York Mets have established themselves as one of the National League’s top dogs, but the door on a last-minute offseason move hasn't yet closed. With an influx of talent in the infield, the Mets could ship one of their extra pieces to another team in exchange for a player who fills one of their few weak areas.
New York went out and signed Jorge Polanco to play first base next season, following Pete Alonso’s departure in free agency. Though he’s never been a primary first baseman, the Mets have confidence in his ability to adjust to the position, signing him to a $40 million deal.
Then, in one of the offseason’s most surprising moves, the Mets signed star infielder Bo Bichette to be the club’s third baseman. Bichette has always been a shortstop up until this point, but Francisco Lindor already holds that spot for the Mets, meaning the logical thing to do was to slide their new signee over to third. It’ll be an interesting experiment considering Bichette’s uninspiring defensive abilities. New York will be hoping his lack of defense will be better hidden at third than at shortstop.
The Mets also traded for second baseman Marcus Semien earlier in the offseason, meaning they have a brand-new infield minus Lindor at shortstop. With three new infielders coming in, two have suddenly become surplus for the Mets: Mark Vientos and Brett Baty.
One of Vientos and Baty will fill in as the club’s designated hitter, but it still leaves one of the young infielders on the bench most games. To make the most of this, New York would be wise to trade one of the surplus infielders to address another area of their roster, and Bleacher Report mocked up a late offseason trade that does just that.
Writer Tim Kelly has New York trading Vientos to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a recent article. While Vientos holds good value for the Mets, Kelly cited Baty’s positional flexibility as to why they would more likely trade away Vientos.
Vientos had a down 2025 season, seeing his OPS drop from .837 to .702. He finished with -0.2 WAR just a year after putting up 3.1 WAR. Teams across the league still view Vientos as a good player despite the regression in 2025. At just 26 years old, Vientos could provide an immediate boost to a Pirates team that lost out on third baseman Eugenio Suarez in free agency.
In return, Kelly noted Pirates players such as starting pitcher Mitch Keller, outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, infielder Termarr Johnson, and starting pitcher Levi Sterling as names that could be sent back to New York in such a deal.
If the Mets are looking for a player who increases their chances of winning in 2026, Keller is the player to target. If they’re willing to sacrifice and get a player in return who could help in a year or two, Garcia offers New York a promising outfield prospect in what’s currently a fairly thin outfield depth chart. Whatever their move is, the Mets will continue to be in trade rumors with Vientos and Baty until a deal is finally struck late this offseason or at the deadline.