The biggest storyline for the New York Mets over the past few months has been what they are going to do at first base.
With all the drama surrounding the negotiations with Pete Alonso, the Mets have looked into potential backup options.
Many different names have been thrown around as potential options. Everything from internal options like Mark Vientos to a blockbuster move like Vladimir Guerrero Jr has been considered.
However, over the past couple of days, a new name has joined the lengthy list of potential Alonso replacements.
Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated is reporting the Mets have discussed trading for Baltimore Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. With the O’s wanting to promote top prospect Coby Mayo to the majors, the most logical spot to put him is first.
This causes Mountcastle to be an expendable piece. Here’s a mock trade that will help both the Mets and Orioles.
Mets acquire Ryan Mountcastle in exchange for Blade Tidwell and Jack Wenninger
Last week we did an in-depth article about why Mountcastle is a good fit in Queens. However, to give a spark notes version, he’s a solid contact hitter, slashing .271/.308/.425 in 2024, with 13 home runs, 63 RBIs, a 113 OPS+, and a wRC+ of 108. He’s also been praised for his defensive abilities at first. Sure the Mets might be sacrificing some power when replacing Mountcastle with Alonso, but his defense will make up for it.
In this trade, the Orioles acquire two pitchers under the age of 24. The first is Blade Tidwell, who was the Mets’ second-round pick in 2022.
He ranks as the Mets 8th best prospect and the second-best pitching prospect in their system according to MLB Pipeline.
He’s someone who has an electric fastball but has trouble finding the zone. This will cause him to start the year in the minors, but he should make his debut at some point in 2025. Over his three minor league seasons, he has a 4.14 ERA, with 285 strikeouts to 134 walks and a WHIP of 1.35.
The second is Jack Wenninger, who was the Mets’ sixth-round pick in 2023. He ranks as the Mets’ 29th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He’s someone who has a lethal fastball-changeup combination. However, he still needs to work on his secondary pitch, his curveball and slider.
This will cause many to expect him to be called up at some point in 2026.
Over his two minor league seasons, he has an ERA of 4.37 with 144 strikeouts to 44 walks, and a WHIP of 1.28.
The one thing the Orioles are missing is top-of-the-line pitching. Sure, they have one of the better farm systems in baseball and have assembled a nice nucleus of young talent.
However, their core is all position players.
Pitching has been the kryptonite for the Orioles this past season. Baltimore pitching had an ERA of 3.96 this past season and a WHIP of 1.26.
These are not terrible numbers, but not ones of a legit World Series contender. Plus, they lost their ace Corbin Burnes to free agency.
Although the Orioles might ask for higher-upside young pitchers like Brandon Sproat or Christian Scott, that’s unrealistic considering the first base market.
If free agency has taught us anything it’s that the league doesn’t value first basemen like they used to. If the free agent market is bad for first basemen, their value in trades will be low as well.
