NY Mets rumors: Brett Baty trade interest confirmed, another option for the Pirates

Aliens are going to land on this planet centuries from now and wonder two things. One will be what led to the collapse of civilization. The other will be when Will Sammon became the most trusted person when it came to New York Mets rumors. He’s having an All-Star offseason for The Athletic covering the Mets. If there was a Triple Crown for the job he has done, he’d be in the running.

Wednesday included Mets rumors about a potential Pittsburgh Pirates trade involving Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. Courtesy of a Pittsburgh radio host, it seemed like one-sided information that Sammon was able to confirm from the other perspective.

Trade interest in Baty is easy to understand. The Mets’ surplus of third basemen and no singular role for Baty this coming year makes him an intriguing option for teams like the Pirates who don’t have a satisfying option at the position. They also happened to miss out on a new target of theirs, Framber Valdez. Let the added trade speculation between the Mets and Pirates commence.

Suddenly there is one more Mets player who could be of interest to the Pirates

David Peterson should be viewed as a less expensive version of Valdez. Suddenly, all of those teams who missed out on Peterson should be a match to call up the Mets to see what it is they plan to do with their lefty starter on an expiring contract. Owed just over $8 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, he’s not incredibly cheap or so expensive.

Peterson wasn’t mentioned as a part of the Pirates’ interest level, but pairing him off with Baty or Vientos definitely seems to have some merit. If they were willing to go after Valdez and have interest in adding one of the Mets bats, a discussion about Peterson would seem to make some sense for both sides.

The Mets have a six-man rotation in place with no confirmation that this is actually what they’ll do. Having more bodies than reasonable might just be a part of the plan. They overfilled the roster with starters last offseason. Injuries to Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, and Paul Blackburn had them dipping into the depth chart from the beginning with Tylor Megill making the team.

Pitchers and catchers report next week with many Mets players already showing up for camp in recent days. A trade during spring training isn’t unrealistic for any team. For the Mets, who’ve already made so many major changes, we should wipe that surprised look off our face if something we didn’t expect happens before Opening Day.

In the two years of David Stearns running the team, they’ve always seemed to tip-toe closer to Opening Day with plans that suddenly change based on opportunity. Vientos was the DH until they signed J.D. Martinez. Vientos and Baty were going to share first base until Pete Alonso re-signed.

Nobody of their caliber is available in free agency from the offensive side. Teams can call about Baty and Vientos. The messages I’d watch for is Peterson. That’s where the true Mets surplus is.