Mark Vientos’ trade value took a major hit on July 9, and it happened in the most brutal way possible.
The Mets infielder was struck by a pitch in New York’s game against the Kansas City Royals, and Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported that Vientos suffered a fractured bone after taking a 92.2 mph sinker from Royals pitcher Michael Wacha. DiComo also said Vientos will miss “weeks,” which leaves the Mets with one fewer player they could have potentially moved before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
That matters because Vientos was already in a tough spot. He had been struggling at the plate, hitting .211/.253/.388, and his defense at first base and third base had dragged his value down even further.
In 72 games, Baseball Reference credited him with -1.4 Wins Above Replacement. Even with 11 home runs, he had started to lose playing time to teammates as the slump dragged on.
Still, Vientos is not without appeal for another club. He’s 26, he has three more years of team control, and a contender looking for a corner infielder or even a right-handed bench bat could certainly do worse. Across five major league seasons, Vientos has 65 home runs, 192 RBIs and a .234/.287/.429 slash line.
For the Mets, though, the timing is messy. If David Stearns wants to reshape the roster with an eye toward 2027, Vientos was one of the names that could have been part of that process. Now, if he goes anywhere, it looks far more likely to happen after the season than in the next month.
There’s also a bigger layer of uncertainty hanging over any rebuilding plan. A lockout looms once baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement expires Dec. 1.
DiComo also pointed to recently demoted infielder Ronny Mauricio as a possible candidate to take Vientos’ roster spot. Mauricio, like Vientos, was once viewed as a top prospect, and his stock has fallen alongside the Mets’ fortunes in the National League.
After the win over Kansas City, the Mets sit at 40-54 and are 11.5 games back in the National League Wild Card race.
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