Mets jumbled roster could provide Guardians with perfect chance to upgrade outfield

Last season the New York Mets were arguably one of the most disappointing teams in all of baseball. While the Mets won the offseason by signing Juan Soto to the largest contract in MLB history, they collapsed over the final month of the season and finished a game out of the postseason behind Terry Francona and the Cincinnati Reds. 

And although their roster is filled with a variety of sluggers (namely Soto and old friend Francisco Lindor), they still have a bit of a roster crunch in the outfield. 

We got a firm reminder of that earlier this week when ESPN’s Jeff Passan published a story providing intel on the offseason plans for all 30 teams.

And in that story, Passan included an interesting tidbit about the Mets’ plan for the offseason, writing

“The Mets are blowing up plenty. It's not just Luisangel Acuña or Mark Vientos or Brett Baty -- center fielder Brandon Nimmo (who has full no-trade protection) and utilityman Jeff McNeil can also be had.”

That should be music to the Guardians’ ears 

The Guardians have a golden opportunity to make a trade with the Mets

The Athletic's Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal added a bit of extra context to Passan’s report on Thursday when they wrote the Mets will need to move some players off their roster to free up space (and money) so they can go after big name free agents, so it seems like they’re a lock to be active this offseason. 

While Nimmo would be tougher to wrangle away thanks to his no-trade clause (and is likely too expensive for the Guardians), he’d be a huge help in the center field. He’s spent his entire career with the Mets and is still owed a little more than $100 over the next five seasons as a part of the contract he signed ahead of the ‘23 season. 

Although Nimmo’s never been an All-Star or earned any kind of postseason award, he’s turned into the definition of consistency and is coming off a season where he hit .262 with 25 home runs and a career-high 92 RBI. 

But even if Nimmo wouldn’t be a fit, there are still plenty of ways for the Guardians to take advantage of the Mets’ reshuffling of the deck — namely with McNeil. 

McNeil looked like a long-term piece in New York after he had the best batting average in the NL (.326) to go along with 62 RBI and 39 doubles. That still stands as the high-water mark of his career, as he’s hit .253 in 407 games since. 

That said, McNeil could still be a solid option for the Guardians thanks to his contact-based approach (94th percentile in whiff rate and 89th percentile in strikeout rate) along with his ability to move around the diamond. It’s the kind of batting profile the Guardians love.

Acuña, Vientos and Baty would also be interesting pieces for the Guardians to consider even if they’re not as established as Nimmo or McNeil. 

Vientos would arguably be the best fit for the Guardians thanks to his power (89th percentile in hard-hit rate), but he’s almost exclusively played third base in the majors. That’s a no go with José Ramírez in the fold. 

Baty entered 2025 having played exclusively at third base in his career but played 57 games at second base last season. 

Adding him would likely bring about the end to Gabriel Arias or Brayan Rocchio’s time on the roster, but he also stands out as an intriguing option depending on how much it would take to grab him in a trade. 

Acuña can play all over the diamond and was the Mets’ return for Max Scherzer at 2023, but only hit .234 in 95 games with the Mets last season. 

The Guardians have already been busy this offseason, but still clearly have some holes on their roster. Touching base with the Mets about some of the expendable players on their roster could help the Guardians kill two birds with one stone.