3 best assets Billy Eppler should trade this offseason

The New York Mets may only have one major trade they can make this offseason. The farm system isn’t super deep. Their greatest weapon, Steve Cohen’s wallet, should have them looking for upgrades in free agency rather than dealing with other teams.

For General Manager Billy Eppler, this means proceeding with some caution. He won’t want to trade away a single player to reduce a future trade package for a much bigger target—Shohei Ohtani obviously being the biggest name out there.

Even if the Mets don’t get involved in the Ohtani sweepstakes, there are players for the Mets to shop. It’s these three that stand out as the best assets Eppler has that don’t seem to have an exact role with the ball club going forward.

1) NY Mets need to trade Mark Vientos or find a role for him

Mark Vientos trade talk has been ongoing ever since Brett Baty joined the organization. Baty has since passed Vientos as the clear favorite to play third base. For Vientos, a poor defender, the DH spot is the likeliest place for him to get regular at-bats with this franchise.

Vientos could certainly find a spot in someone’s left field or even as a first baseman. On the Mets, with Pete Alonso locked in at first base, the options get limited far faster.

Vientos has slid down many top Mets prospect lists in the last year despite an impressive performance in Triple-A. He hits with good power and should, at the very least, become a decent righty capable of mashing lefties.

Destinations for Vientos should be plentiful enough. He’d be a centerpiece in any major trade we can dream about. If the Mets don’t deal him, they’ll need to find a role for him on the roster. The right-handed DH partner with Daniel Vogelbach is one way to proceed.

3) NY Mets need to trade Jose Butto or move him to a relief role

Jose Butto was not impressive in his Mets debut this season. Called up out of need for the starting rotation, he’s not a high enough profile starting pitcher for anyone to believe he has a whole lot of MLB potential.

While Butto may not be a future starting pitcher for the Mets, there is another place where he can go and find innings. The Mets will need a lot of relief pitchers. Moving him to a bullpen role—or at least planning to at some point—is the next best step to take with him.

The Mets have as many questions in their 2023 bullpen as they do with the starting staff. Guys like Tylor Megill and David Peterson could be thought of as trade assets. Until we know what the rotation will look like, the Mets should hold onto them. Peterson might be useful in a Trevor Williams-like role in 2023. Megill, at worst, could slot into the bullpen.

Butto’s trade value hasn’t taken any major hit just because of his poor debut this past year. It never was all that high.

Butto is falling behind other Mets starting pitching prospects. Now 24, he’s one of the older well-known names the team has in the minors. Trading him this offseason, while there still is some hope of better days ahead, would be wise. The only other option might be to see if he can become a full-time reliever they can shuttle back and forth from the minors.