NY Mets trade idea to replace Pete Alonso is a better fit for another position

Earlier this week, Tim Britton of The Athletic laid out different scenarios where the New York Mets could field their best roster at a variety of different payrolls. In several of those examples, it involved making a trade to replace Pete Alonso at first base.

Britton’s target was Athletics slugger Tyler Soderstrom. The 23-year-old (24 in November) played his first big league season. He made the most of it, smacking 25 home runs, driving in 93, and doing it with a .276/.346/.474 slash line.

A catcher/DH in 2023, a first baseman primarily in 2024, Soderstrom found himself at a whole new spot on the field this past year. Soderstrom moved to left field for 100 of his starts. He came away with some amazing impressive results patrolling left field.

Tyler Soderstrom looks like a better solution for the Mets in the outfield than at first base

Oddly, Soderstrom had a far better defensive year in left field than at first base. A -5 OAA at first base and 5 OAA in left field, he defied conventional logic that first base is the easier defensive position.

According to Baseball-Reference, he had some of the best range in the game. His 2.51 RF/9 led the league in left field. The thing to take note of with this statistic is it could just mean more balls were hit to him than players on other teams. Perhaps there were some balls the center fielder gave way to allow Soderstrom to catch instead. Regardless of how you want to spin it, Soderstrom played a really good left field.

What could it mean for the Mets? Well, it’s hard to fathom a change in left field with Brandon Nimmo under team control. However, consider an alternative scenario. Maybe Nimmo sees a little more time at the DH spot. He doesn’t have the arm to move to right field or range to be a regular center fielder. Perhaps another option is to give Soderstrom reps in right field. His arm strength was the 50th best among MLB outfielders in 2025. Soto ranked 136th.

It’s all fantasy at the moment. Because of the quick flashes of success in the outfield this past year, I’d be less inclined to believe he’s a good Alonso replacement. He seems more like an addition the Mets could make to rearrange their corner outfielders. The idea of moving Soto to first base is bound to gain traction. Soderstrom would give them more cause to consider it. In the meantime, it can’t hurt to simply split the DH duties more regularly between Nimmo and Soto with a guy like Soderstrom around. Plus, it can’t hurt to have an emergency catcher around on days when maybe you simply want to DH Francisco Alvarez and put Luis Torrens behind the plate.