NY Mets: Mets Must Consider Trading Third Baseman Brett Baty

The 2024 New York Mets had a ton of success and it’s only proven that getting younger was a contributing factor. There’s been a few swaps at who plays third base. From the current starter in Mark Vientos, a few other options such as Brett Baty have been tried. Here’s why the depth at third is a great thing when it comes to trades and why Baty should be on the trading block.

Vientos, 24, took over when the struggling Baty, 24, proved inefficient at defending the hot corner atop getting on base. Baty in 2024 had an 0.3 WAR, batted .229 with 4 home runs and 16 batted in. This comes over a span of 171 plate appearances.

Yikes. Sometimes, homegrown talent that flourishes in the minor leagues doesn’t pan out to play solid baseball at the major league level.

Between a DH battle of newly signed JD Martinez, 36, and Vientos, a sophomore with a chip on his shoulder, Vientos emerged red hot, prompting the Mets to view him as the next man up to play third.

It’s valid to say Vientos did his job. However, that’s somewhat of a major understatement. The reality is, Vientos exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Let’s take a look.

In 2024, Vientos put up a 3.1 WAR, batting .266 with 27 home runs and 71 RBIs atop an .322 OBP.

While there are many reasons that contributed to the team’s playoff run, it certainly was a good move to put Vientos at third.

The other viable option in Ronny Mauricio, INF/3B, age 23, put up decent offensive numbers before getting sidelined for a year tearing his ACL in the Winter Leagues.

Baty has been quite underwhelming in his past two seasons. He may be a sophomore and have his whole career left to turn it around, but it’s evident and obvious that he can’t do it in Flushing, Queens. Out of the 3 options for third base, Baty is now the odd man out.

This all makes him tradeable, in my honest opinion. He’s still got potential so the return could be somewhat decent, however, the Mets have holes to fill, and I personally don’t think putting him at second base is good either.

It would be in the team’s best interest to shop Baty and see what could happen. It’s a win win for the Mets if Baty could bring back someone who can help the team in a way he cannot unlike his counterparts at third base, in retrospect.