Is trading Mark Vientos worth a rental?

What are the latest New York Mets rumors? It’s like the scene in Reservoir Dogs where Mr. Pink is lying on the ground with Mr. White standing above him and both have guns pointed at each other. Or maybe it’s more like The Office when Michael, Dwight, and Andy got into a stalemate with finger guns instead.

However it is you’d like to classify the current MLB trade deadline, things are stuck!

This will soon change. One of the big hang ups with any Mets rumors becoming reality is the front office’s reluctance to trade a player like Mark Vientos for a rental.

Mets rumors: Should Billy Eppler trade Mark Vientos for a rental player?

We already know the main Mets targets. Many of them are rentals as is the case at the trade deadline most years. J.D. Martinez, Josh Bell, Trey Mancini, Willson Contreras, David Robertson, etc. are all in the rental category.

Mets rumors that say they are unwilling to part with Vientos for someone they would lose at the end of the year are reasonable but also includes some posturing on their behalf. It’s a hot market for sellers right now. When it comes to Vientos, the Mets may even prefer to see what he can do for them at the big league level rather than deal him and more away for a guy that’ll hit free agency.

Vientos might only be harder to trade for the Mets because of how close he is to the big leagues. He’d be the next logical promotion candidate. He has spent this season in Triple-A where he has punished plenty of baseballs. As a right-handed platoon option the Mets could maybe pair with Daniel Vogelbach, maybe the answer for them at the DH spot has been there all along.

The nearer the trade deadline gets, the more desperate some teams become. This goes both ways. Keeping Martinez would be a mistake by the Red Sox. Trading Vientos could be the bigger one for the Mets. They may, however, have to deal away a promising young player like him to guarantee someone they know can hit big league pitchers.

Working as a general manager in Major League Baseball is not for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of risk in every decision you make. It’s not paper or plastic or in the case of some states now—do I pay an extra ten cents for a bag or try to carry it all against my body?

If the floodgates do open and the Mets trade Vientos for a rental sooner than later, they could set a tougher market for other clubs to compete with. One side will give in a little more eventually. In less than 48 hours, we’ll know.