If the MLB rumors are true, NY Mets might have one path toward trading Sean Manaea

Oops! One of the biggest New York Mets mistakes was believing there were better days ahead for multiple players who, in 2025, faded down the stretch. Kodai Senga and David Peterson were the largest culprits. Sean Manaea wasn’t good at all in 2025, but a large contract meant he was guaranteed to stick around.

According to one of the latest MLB rumors, there may be a team ready to take on Manaea if the Mets are ready to pull the plug. Bob Nightengale reported the Chicago White Sox want starting pitching but don’t want to part with any of their top 10 prospects. This immediately eliminates them from many of the top starting pitcher trade candidates. Their willingness to take on salary, meanwhile, makes them a match to potentially add Manaea in a complete reversal of roles from the offseason Luis Robert Jr. trade when they were dumping his contract onto the Mets.

Would the White Sox be bold enough to trade for Sean Manaea in what would essentially be a pure salary dump?

Let’s look at this from the Mets’ perspective first. Manaea, as strong as he has been at times since moving to the rotation, does come with a lot of doubts. Add a $22+ million luxury tax hit next season, clearing out his salary in full would be a huge victory and opportunity to go after someone else.

Next year’s rotation already lines up for Nolan McLean and Christian Scott with Zac Thornton as an early favorite to earn a third spot. This leaves the Mets with two other rotation spots, ideally not one belonging to an expensive player you’re not so sure about. A Clay Holmes reunion/extension plus Tarik Skubal is probably the best dream scenario although we’d probably accept much less and be satisfied.

For the White Sox, money is the first place to start. Chicago’s payroll ranks 27th in MLB this season. They have the room to add a high-priced pitcher. With Manaea, they even get a guy for next season whether that’s viewed as good or bad.

Manaea is no doubt an improvement over Noah Schultz and his 6.04 ERA. They have the room on the roster with Schultz being an obvious option to either move to the bullpen or get sent down. A potential steal for them, there’s no reason why the asking price for Manaea would come close to one of their top 10 prospects.

The Mets could do far worse than selling Manaea and picking up even a lower ranked White Sox prospect. First baseman Anthony DePino, for instance, ranks 28th and is an .855 OPS guy in Double-A this season.

The questions for both teams are simple. For the Mets, they need to answer 1) they’re willing to trade Sean Manaea away and 2) how little they’ll be willing to receive for him. For the White Sox, they have to ask 1) is Sean Manaea the solution and 2) are they really going to let his salary hinder them?

No MLB rumors have linked the Mets and White Sox directly for a trade involving Manaea. However, if the Mets want to shed salary for this year and next, handing their most expensive starting pitcher over for a jester’s ransom (that must be what a low trade return is called, right?) wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

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Would the White Sox be bold enough to trade for Sean Manaea in what would essentially be a pure salary dump?

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