5 NY Mets players whose future can change most after the Bo Bichette signing

2) Mark Vientos

If it’s not Baty the Mets trade, it would be Mark Vientos. The weaker defender of the two, the one thing he had going for him was being a right-handed hitter on a mostly left-handed hitting squad. Not so much anymore. Vientos is more redundant as a corner infielder on a team with a switch hitter and third baseman that can both hit from the right side.

This doesn’t mean the Mets have to trade Vientos. If they view him as a regular at DH, semi-regular at first base, and an emergency third baseman, they can keep him around. Baty is more of a utility player to start regularly against lefties. The Mets don’t need to trade him if the return is weak. He’s only one season removed from his monstrous 2024 campaign which had him putting up All-Star numbers in a shortened season due to the organization’s lack of trust in him.

Vientos would be a conceivable trade candidate if the Mets truly were on a mission to prioritize run prevention. Can we say they have? They tried to land Kyle Tucker. They did land Bichette and are playing Polanco at a new position. Run prevention was a two-word phrase that hasn’t been the lone mission for them this offseason. It’s fluff.

If Vientos does stay with the Mets, some opportunities will be taken away from him by the addition of Bichette. He feels like he’s on borrowed time with the Mets. Unlike Baty who could always spend a year in a different role and move back to third base in 2027, it feels like Vientos is getting pushed out further.