2 Pirates and 2 Mariners players who could figure into a NY Mets Jeff McNeil trade

Trade season loves to toss out unlikely paths, and one of the more intriguing ones has the New York Mets loosely connected to both Pittsburgh and Seattle as they gauge possibilities involving Jeff McNeil. Any discussion like this lives far from the idea of a one-for-one swap, but it does spark a look at a few logical names who match the Mets' needs or bring some kind of value worth examining. None of them is a perfect fit, all carry their own complications, and that mix is exactly what makes sorting through these possibilities such an entertaining winter exercise.

Pirates and Mariners names that might work for the Mets

Luis Castillo

Luis Castillo still brings reliability, and that alone puts him on the Mets' radar after a season when they struggled to get length from their starters. He posted a 3.54 ERA in 2025 with 180.2 innings, 168 hits, 162 strikeouts, and a 107 OPS+, his third straight year over 175 innings. The concern is the trend beneath the surface. His barrel, hard hit, chase, whiff, and strikeout rates have all moved in the wrong direction, giving him more of a mid-tier profile at this stage of his career.

Seattle needs a second baseman, so McNeil checks a box, but the contract complicates things. Castillo is owed $21 million in each of the next two seasons with a vesting option for 2028. For the Mets to take on that salary for a starter whose best days are behind him, Seattle would need to sweeten the pot.

Randy Arozarena

Randy Arozarena’s value always starts with the bat, even in a streaky 2025 that finished at .238/.334/.426 with 27 homers and 76 runs driven in. He remains the kind of hitter who can take over a lineup when he gets hot, though the cold spells continue to raise fair questions about what version a team gets over six months. His projected arbitration salary sits around $16 million, which lines up neatly with McNeil, and both players reaching free agency after the season makes the framework easy to imagine.

Defense is the issue. Arozarena ended last year with -5 outs above average, -1 defensive runs saved, and finished in the bottom 15% in MLB in arm value. For a Mets team intent on cleaning up run prevention after moving Brandon Nimmo, selling this profile would be hard.

Mitch Keller

Mitch Keller wrapped up 2025 with a 4.19 ERA, 171 hits allowed, 150 strikeouts, and a 102 ERA+ across 176.1 innings, marking his fourth straight season with more than 30 starts. That kind of durability checks a major box for the Mets, who still need steady innings even if the stuff profiles more in the mid to low-tier range. He fits the mold of what they already have, which makes the upside question part of the evaluation.

Pittsburgh has a real need for a veteran bat to stabilize second base, so McNeil fits their search. The contract is the tricky part. Keller is owed $16, $18, and $20 million over the next three seasons, and while the first year lines up cleanly with McNeil, the back end of that deal carries risk. If the Mets were to take on those seasons, Pittsburgh would have to add more to make it worthwhile.

Dennis Santana

Dennis Santana is coming off the best season of his eight-year journeyman career, posting a 2.18 ERA in 2025 with 44 hits allowed, 60 strikeouts, and a 197 ERA+ across 70.1 innings. His four-seam fastball and slider, which he threw more than 75 percent of the time, both held opponents under a .160 average, a pairing that gave him a level of dominance he had never shown before. It is exactly the kind of season that makes teams wonder how much is real.

The challenge is fit. Santana is projected to make around $4 million in his final year of arbitration, a number far below McNeil’s range, which makes the starting point tough to line up. Relievers are also notoriously volatile, and Stearns would have to weigh whether 2025 was a breakout or a one-year spike before considering him as a meaningful part of any conversation.