Mets Candidates To Be Moved Are Starting To Emerge As Trade Deadline Approaches

The New York Mets are having a lost season, and it this point it doesn't look salvageable. Meanwhile, the trade deadline is approaching and candidates to move are quickly emerging. 

Mark Vientos and Brett Baty are two of those candidates. They're very different players, though, and Will Salmon of The Athletic did a rundown on what it would mean if either or both gets moved.

Start with Vientos. There are many who feel that he shouldn't have even been on the roster in the first place. He couldn't even get on the field at the end of last year, and we're seeing some of the reasons why. 

Vientos does do one thing well, however--he hits for power. Many of us home runs are well over 400 feet, and the exit velocities are just as impressive. But Vientos is also a defensive liability, and he's had to play first base due to the injuries to infielder Jorge Polanco. That's cost the Mets multiple games in a year in which they were supposedly emphasizing run prevention. 

There are two problems with possibly trading Vientos. One is that the Mets are short on bodies due to all their injuries, so they would need to get someone playable at first back if they do move him. Another is that Vientos' trade value is low so they wouldn't get much back for him. 

Baty’s situation is very different. He spent the off-season penciled in as the Mets starting third baseman, but New York went out at the last minute and signed Bo Bichette. Baty has been moved around a lot as a result, and it’s hurt his offense. 

He's now playing third, which is where he belongs, and it might be worth waiting to see if he can overcome his season-long slump as he has been hitting better lately. Baty is often disparaged for his lack of power, but his  18 home runs last year were actually more than Bichette hit. 

The same problems exist when it comes to moving Baty, although there is an easier solution. Bichette can move back to third when Francisco Lindor gets healthy, although that's still weeks away at this point and Bichette hasn't been all that good at third or short. 

Baty, too, will be undervalued, and there's no getting away from that right now. The Mets originally envisioned him as a utility player but they rushed him into that role and gave him too many positions to handle at once.

GM David Stearns hasn't said much about all this lately, as he, too, is on the hot seat. He did make a comment about every player's situation being different, but the real problem is that none of Stearns' moves have worked all that well, and as result the Mets are now well under .500.