5 under-the-radar Mets trade candidates if the team sells this summer

2) Mark Vientos

The Mets should hesitate to trade Mark Vientos. I don’t think they do unless a team offers them something significant. The uncertainty with the future of Pete Alonso should have the club considering Vientos as a first base replacement for the 2025 season. Able to also play some third base as well, it’s not a bad plan to have Vientos as an option at both corner infield spots and the DH spot—that’s if he can continue to hit well.

Vientos is in the same spot as Peterson with the only difference being his final minor league option has been used. He can get sent down in 2024, but after this year, Vientos loses that flexibility point.

We should be confident that the Mets have shopped Vientos in the past. He never seemed like a perfect fit for the club with the questions about his defense. His bat, however, always left some intrigue. And with him outperforming Brett Baty added with some open spots next season, there might actually finally be some room for him.

Teams that would look to acquire Vientos get plenty of team control even if the minor league options aren’t there. He’d be a candidate much like Darin Ruf was for the Mets in 2022 except younger and for their sake, hopefully capable of actually hitting.