5 NY Mets roster moves David Stearns would immediately make if the other side agreed

4) Trade Mark Vientos for an arm or a defensively gifted player

Maybe Mark Vientos is in the trade for Peralta. Maybe he’s swapped in a deal that brings the Mets Luis Robert Jr. Heck, let’s pair him up with Kodai Senga and send him to the Rays or the Orioles and increase the return. Whatever it is, turning Vientos into a completely different type of player.

It’s clear the Mets are ready to move on from Vientos. It just might be hard to do so as he’s a decent backup plan at more than one position. Either first baseman or DH Plan-B, he doesn’t realistically fit into a Plan-A under any circumstance. Otherwise, we would’ve seen him log more time at first base last year (with Pete Alonso DH’ing).

Vientos’ trade value tanked with his performance last year. Other teams see the same problems we do. He isn’t good enough to play third base regularly. His bat, as a first baseman, is too unpredictable. The Mets shouldn’t sell him short as he might still be an affordable part-time player they can get more out of.

Give Stearns a “force trade” option in real life and he’s sending Vientos to another team for an arm or defensive guru. It’s not too impractical either. A team in need of some pop would be wise to take a chance on him.