We’re deep into the MLB offseason and yet there’s still so much work to be done. You can’t fairly evaluate the New York Mets roster until they’ve finalized a few more things. Free agent signings and trades are very much in play between now and the season opening on March 27 in Houston.

The Mets have been less active on the trade market this offseason as they were last. Even if the majority of the deals they struck previously were smaller and involved cash changing hands, those are still important ones to keep an eye on.

Before we get to Opening Day, there are a few players we should keep a close eye on as potential trade pieces. Big, small, and somewhere in between these five players seem the likeliest of candidates to get dealt somewhere. If so, what kind of return makes the most sense?

1) Trade Paul Blackburn in a package for a better and more expensive starting pitcher

If you feel any kind of way about Paul Blackburn than “eh” you are probably related to him. Coming off of a season where he made just 14 starts due to multiple injuries, the veteran righty has a poor track record of staying healthy. Only twice in his career has he toppled 100 innings pitched. The 111.1 in 2022 when he was an All-Star for the lowly Oakland Athletics is it.

The Mets had a chance to bail on Blackburn by non-tendering him back in November. They chose to keep him around, coming to terms on a new deal for 2025 whilst avoiding arbitration. It’s not such a bad thought to have him around for some innings. What makes him a less than favorable part of the rotation are the remaining questions with everyone else.

Blackburn will earn just over $4 million this coming season—a total worth less than what the team gave free agent Griffin Canning. Blackburn isn’t expensive in any regard. A team looking to save money could view him as a decent enough fifth starter to replace a pricier piece in their current rotation.

The trade the Mets should try to make involving Blackburn would be to pair him with a younger player or two and acquire a more expensive, talented, and if we’re really lucky, controllable arm. We’ll just take the first two. Blackburn plus two prospects to the San Diego Padres for Dylan Cease? We’ll pretend the 2022 postseason never happened.

2) Trade Brett Baty for a young pitcher still trying to break through

Brett Baty’s trade value isn’t what it was a year ago. It’s far less than it was two seasons ago. The Mets put their faith in him becoming the future at third base. He has continually struggled at the major league level, getting demoted in 2023 and again in 2024. His job was officially taken away by Mark Vientos who put together one of the league’s most underrated offensive campaigns in 2024. Where does this leave Baty now?

Vientos hasn’t quite proven he is a major league third baseman, but it does little to make Baty a more desirable part of the Mets’ future. They have players like Ronny Mauricio fighting for some innings at the hot corner as well. A lot can happen between now and Opening Day. For Baty, the best choice for the Mets is to trade him now for a young pitcher still trying to break through.

As Rising Apple’s Nolan Wright previously proposed, sending him to the Seattle Mariners for Emerson Hancock is the type of move we should welcome. Hancock is a talented pitcher who has yet to fully show he is of much use to the Mariners as a starter. Perhaps a change of scenery could help out just as it might for Baty.

Baty as the starting third baseman again in 2025 feels like a futile effort to make something that isn’t work begin to operate.

3) Trade Dylan Covey for cash considerations

It’s somewhat under-the-radar what the Mets are doing with Dylan Covey level players. Sign them to split contracts and make them more passable through waivers. We see how frugal other ball clubs can be. They’ll be more likely to pass on a fringe MLB player who costs more. The split contract benefits the player and the team who signs him both financially and from the standpoint of better knowing where you’ll live.

A split contract doesn’t guarantee a thing. Last spring we saw the Mets trade Austin Adams to the Oakland Athletics before the year began. He was signed to a split contract and upon realizing he wasn’t going to make the Opening Day roster, they sent him elsewhere for cash considerations.

This is all the Mets could conceivably get back for Covey. He’s a journeyman pitcher who can start, but is probably best used as a longman leaning toward the side of mop-up duty. It’s impossible to picture the Mets including him on the Opening Day roster outside of some major injuries and a hot spring from Covey. They may try to shop him just as they did with Adams or look to move him to the minors to begin the year. He’s useful but not so needed.

Covey spent much of last season injured. If you’ve followed the Mets IL closely, a “convenient” injury is probably on its way to keep him around and off the waiver wire.

4) Trade Sean Reid-Foley for an optional reliever or minor league flier

Sean Reid-Foley had an amazing 2025 season even if it included just 21.2 innings. His 1.66 ERA was an outstanding turn for a promising Mets pitcher who has found it difficult to remain on the MLB roster. Despite being with the Mets for four seasons now, he has logged only 60 innings.

The difficulty with SRF is he is out of minor league options. Signed to a split contract as well, the Mets are protecting themselves from a possible waiver claim if they did decide to DFA him before the season began. He feels less like a player to send somewhere else just for cash. If the Mets are going to trade him for some additional roster flexibility, get back a body.

An optional reliever or someone yet to reach the majors would be ideal. Reid-Foley was too good last year in his limited appearances to completely give up on him without at least getting more than cash back.

Although the ERA was great, Reid-Foley did allow an additional 6 unearned runs along with the 4 earned he did give up. He has been prone to walking batters throughout his major league career, currently owning a rate of 5.4 per 9 as a member of the Mets. We’d like to think there’s some untapped potential there. Truthfully, he has limitations.

5) Trade Starling Marte for pitching help

This is the big one. Starling Marte just isn’t the same match for the Mets as he was in the past. It’s not about the money as much as he no longer has a place to play defensively. That’s actually the best thing he has going. Marte as the DH seems almost reckless for a club with such high aspirations as the Mets. His last home run in 2024 came the same day Grimace threw out the first pitch. I appreciate him doing so to make it easy to remember.

This coming season is the last of Marte’s four-year contract. We got the highs of what he can do in 2022. We got the lows in 2023. Last year was somewhere in between.

Mets fans have been searching all offseason for a potential destination for Marte. We understand no one is rushing to acquire an expensive outfielder with declining power and defensive skills. At best, the Mets can come away feeling better about their roster if they’re able to swap Marte for the very vague idea of pitching help.

Exactly what level has yet to be determined. A relief pitcher without options seems like a lateral move. A starting pitcher of below-average quality doesn’t do them much good either. This is a salary dump type of deal and with no one budging so far, the suggestion is probably that no one sees Marte as a match or at least the Mets view him more highly than other options out there.

The last hope of a Marte trade may come from a spring training injury. The Mets would still need to eat a good portion of his salary. The trouble here is the Mets need to already have an additional outfielder on the roster. Wait too long to make a move and you’re one injury yourself away from needing him back.

The signing of Jesse Winker shouldn’t change our stance much with Marte. If anything, it makes a trade feel more urgent. Winker’s right-handed platoon partner should be whichever right-handed everyday player needs a day off from playing defense.