5 NY Mets players entering a crucial season in their careers and what they need to do

4) Mark Vientos

Another guy who isn’t necessarily locked in as a member of the 2026 Mets is Mark Vientos. Are they going to trade him? They don’t have to. There’s room for him to play some third base, some first base, and be a regular at DH. If teams aren’t giving the Mets what they want for Vientos, it’s not such a bad idea to let him linger around as a right-handed power bat in a part-time role.

Becoming a power bat is the key. Vientos’ power drop from 2024 to 2025 was major and one of the reasons why he’s a less desirable choice for the 2026 team. From a 5.9% home run percentage to 3.7% in 2025, Vientos was still technically above average. But without any sense of defensive skills at either corner infield position, he felt more flat at times.

It’s a big year for Vientos because he has already lost a lot of faith from fans and even the front office. He needs to be a big league hitter and not just a slow, low average, low OBP power hitter. At the very least, just be a really good power hitter who can crank out 30 home runs. No one will care if it comes with a .230 batting average.

Vientos did manage to cut down on his strikeouts a bit while also walking slightly less frequently. He’s certainly someone who can benefit from new coaching. We’ll have to give a lot of credit to Jeff Albert and Troy Snitker if they’re able to help Vientos regain what made him a budding star in 2024.