3 NY Mets trade destinations for Brett Baty

While everyone has rightly been focused on the larger moves the New York Mets have made and are rumored to make, an interesting piece of news came out ahead of the Winter Meetings. The Mets have been receiving interest from a number of other clubs regarding a trade for Brett Baty.

Baty, 25, was once a top-20 overall prospect according to FanGraphs who has yet to hit his stride in the majors over parts of the last three seasons. With Mark Vientos' emergence, and the likelihood the Mets re-sign Pete Alonso or someone else to play first, Baty would appear to be the odd man out.

However, his former top prospect status, relative youth, and positional versatility make him a change of scenery candidate who other teams may value. On his own, he won't garner much, but he could always be packaged as a sweetener in a larger deal.

Three clubs stand out as potential landing spots for Baty, and it would not surprise to see him end up donning one of these uniforms in 2025.

1) New York Yankees

Surely Brian Cashman is still sore over losing Juan Soto the the Mets and prying Baty away will do little to ease his pain. However, Soto's departure left the Yankees reeling in search of an option, or more likely, multiple options to replace his production.

The recent trade that sent Devin Williams to the Bronx opened up yet another hole for the Yanks. Heading back to Milwaukee in the deal as part of the package was top prospect Caleb Durbin who some speculated would be their Gleyber Torres replacement and opening day starter at second base.

That move opened up yet another hole in their lineup as they now need help in the outfield, at first base, and at second or third. The Yankees will be active in searching for any and every potential avenue to add offense and benefit from the versatility of Jazz Chisholm who can play second, third, or in the outfield. As a result, the Yankees aren't tied to looking at specific positions in order to find upgrades.

Baty is not an accomplished Major Leaguer and would not be their primary acquisition, but as a move made downstream from some other big names they've been linked to, he could make some sense. The biggest allure would be if the Bronx Bombers could tap into Baty's power potential. If so, his lefty bat might play very nicely with Yankee Stadium's short porch out in right field.

Baty has a career .OPS in the minors of .889. In 2023 in AAA he posted a ridiculous .327 ISO over 121 plate appearances. In a larger sample in 2024, his ISO was still an elite .252 in 269 plate appearances. There's some projection here, but even if Yankees weren't to hand him a job and instead made him compete, there's reason to think they'd be interested in trying to unlock his power which would play up even more in their ball park.

The Yankees have some pitching depth in their system that could appeal to the Mets who need to fill out their bullpen. Perhaps a swap of Baty for a "change of scenery" pitcher could be in cards.