4 Mets third base options if they don’t have answers after the 2024 season

Where will the Mets go if Brett Baty and/or Mark Vientos aren't the answer at third base?
Jul 5, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty against the Arizona
Jul 5, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty against the Arizona / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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3) The Mets can try trading for Ryan McMahon

How’s this for a way-too-early trade candidate: Ryan McMahon. By the time the 2024 season is over, the Colorado Rockies will owe him another $44 million. His very average offensive career doesn’t do much to improve the lineup. However, Gold Glove-caliber defense might be enough for the Mets to at least consider him as a possibility.

McMahon will come into the 2024 season batting .243/.323/.428 with an average of 22 home runs and 75 RBI per 162 games. A strikeout machine without the home run power to make up for it, his career low in any full season is a strikeout in 24.7% of his plate appearances which is still above the league average.

McMahon does hit the ball hard but the results just don’t seem to be there. He has never finished with an OPS+ of 100 or better which is certainly a warning sign if pulled out of having the opportunity to hit at Coors Field for 81 games a year.

The Rockies wouldn’t get much in exchange for McMahon aside from some salary relief. If the Mets were willing to accept an even worse offensive output, he’s someone they could probably get without having to give up too much in terms of prospects—that’s if the Rockies were even interested in trading him away in the first place.

Prediction: The Rockies hold onto him and we don’t hear a thing about Ryan McMahon to the Mets.