1 lightweight, 1 middleweight, and 1 heavyweight NY Mets-Padres trade to make

Francisco Lindor to the San Diego Padres? Not quite a rumor, but with a pair of legs discussed extensively on the radio on both sides of the country and on social media, the idea of trading Francisco Lindor away from the New York Mets is the kind of massive turn no one ever predicted.

How real is it? None of the legitimate baseball writers we know to operate in fact are claiming there is any truth to it. While they miss often, we’ve come to expect just about anything from David Stearns this winter.

Until the pair of legs this “rumor” gets can crawl, it  just doesn’t seem realistic. What about some other trade possibilities? We know we don’t want Xander Bogaerts, as some have suggested would be a part of the trade. 

Because everything in the MLB offseason is a fight, let’s go with a lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight trade idea that could, maybe, realistically work.

Lightweight Trade: David Peterson and Chris Suero for Nick Pivetta

This is a lightweight trade yet impactful one. The Mets swap David Peterson for Nick Pivetta. Both teams keep the same number of starting pitchers on their roster with the Mets seemingly improving with Pivetta over Peterson; or maybe not.

What the Padres do is rid themselves of a player about to earn nearly $20 million this year for a guy who’ll get about half in arbitration. It saves them some dollars which is one of the main factors in any trade we should expect the Padres will make.

The Mets courteously add in prospect Chris Suero. A fascinating prospect who plays catcher, first base, and outfield and has pop, there are a lot of unique things ahead for him if he continues to improve at the plate. He batted .233 this past season with 16 home runs. He ranks as the 15th best Mets prospect.

Not high on Pivetta? Too much to include Suero? Choose another position player prospect that can bridge the talent gap between Peterson and Pivetta.

Middleweight Trade: David Peterson, Mark Vientos, Eli Serrano and R.J. Gordon for Nick Pivetta and Jason Adam

We’re kind of adding to the lightweight trade with a few changes. The Mets are swapping out Chris Suero for prospects Eli Serrano and R.J. Gordon. Serrano is one of the better Mets outfield prospects, but doesn’t necessarily seem like he’ll have an easy pathway to the majors. Gordon is an underrated starting pitching prospect yet below several of his peers. They are good prospects the Mets can afford to give up in this trade.

David Peterson is still included and the Mets get Nick Pivetta. We’re going to include Mark Vientos here too, to give the Padres some added pop at first base and DH. The Mets are getting a little more from San Diego here as well with reliever Jason Adam coming to New York.

Pivetta has an opt out after this season while Adam is just a regular free agent. He had an ERA below 2.00 last year and has thrived since the Padres paid a king’s ransom to acquire him at the 2024 trade deadline. He’d be a back of the bullpen solution for the Mets they wouldn’t be able to land in free agency and with just a single season commitment.

This would end up as one of the bigger trades of the offseason if it was to go down. Four players for two, it might not even be enough for the Padres. Adam is projected to be one of their higher paid relievers. On a roster with some really good ones, including Mason Miller, they can part with him.

Not enough for San Diego? It’ll need to be a lower level prospect, but maybe a good one, to accept.

Heavyweight Trade: David Peterson, Mark Vientos, Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams, Ryan Clifford, and Jack Wenninger for Nick Pivetta and Fernando Tatis Jr.

Snowballs have a better chance in a Boca Raton summer than seeing this happen. It’s the motherload of trades that’ll help set up both ball clubs for something they’re aiming to do.

Some of the same rules apply. Peterson and Pivetta swap places. Vientos gets a new home. The big change is we now see the Mets unload notable prospects who feel a little secondary to others in exchange for Fernando Tatis Jr.

While the thought is the Mets are trading their $341 million player to the Padres, wouldn’t it make more sense for the $340 million shortstop turned elite right fielder go the other way instead? The Padres are the ones trying to shed salary. The Mets want to clear roster space and get better.

There are things to love and hate from both perspectives. The Padres are taking big risks and losing the best player in the deal. They could very well get nothing at all in exchange for a superstar in his mid-20s.

Many of these same prospects are coming up in mock trades for Tarik Skubal. As a rental, it’s less sensible for the Mets to unload this kind of package. For Tatis, it’s franchise-altering.

Risk-adverse fans in New York wouldn’t have interest in this deal. As for Padres fans, they wouldn’t see the value a bunch of lesser players can bring.

The more heavyweight these hypotheticals get, the more complicated they appear and unrealistic they feel. The Mets and Padres line up well for deals of all weight classes. It’s now a matter of David Stearns and A.J. Preller agreeing on something. They made Josh Hader to the Padres happen in 2022.