The Mets may have another name to circle this offseason if they’re looking for a Brett Baty alternative, and this one comes with a little more defensive flexibility.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com recently put together a list of 11 intriguing offseason trade candidates, and while Mark Vientos was the only Mets player to make the cut, a few other names on that list naturally point New York’s way. Logan Gilbert keeps popping up whenever the conversation turns to ways the Mets could upgrade the rotation, and Shane McLanahan would also seem like the kind of starter the club would have interest in.
But there’s another player on Feinsand’s list who might fit the Mets just as well: Cubs infielder Matt Shaw.
That’s the kind of move David Stearns could plausibly make, especially with the uncertainty around Bo Bichette and the idea of matching up with Chicago on a trade for Shaw. His role in Chicago changed this season, going from starting third baseman in 2025 to a utility player who barely saw time at the hot corner after the Cubs signed Alex Bregman. For the Mets, that creates a possible opening for a young right-handed bat with some upside.
Shaw has spent more time in right field than anywhere else in 2026 after logging 124 games at third base last season, but third base is still the best place to evaluate him here. That’s the spot where he would be in the mix with Brett Baty, and perhaps even as a backup plan if Bichette were to stay in New York.
The defensive numbers suggest Shaw has been solid enough. He finished 2025 with -1 OAA, but also posted 1.4 dWAR, which at least points to a player who is around average or better with the glove.
He brings some other useful traits too. Shaw is in the 91st percentile in sprint speed, and even though his major league batting line sits at .229/.303/.428, he’s a 24-year-old who has trimmed his strikeout rate, improved his walk rate, and raised his hard-hit rate from a rough 29.2% to 36.3%.
In some ways, he looks like the right-handed version of Baty. He’s nearly two full years younger and comes with more team control, and the bigger advantage is that Shaw has shown more as a defender across multiple positions than Baty has.
A year of the two players competing for time, or even splitting third base in some kind of platoon, is easy enough to picture. Shaw owns a .816 OPS against left-handed pitching in his career, while Baty is at just .703 this year against righties.
The fit isn’t perfect, though. Baty’s handedness doesn’t line up well enough for him to regularly take playing time from anyone besides second baseman Marcus Semien.
Shaw, on the other hand, could also help in right field, where he has played well this season, either over Carson Benge or on days when A.J. Ewing sits and Benge shifts into center field.
At his peak, Shaw might be only a slight upgrade over Baty. Feinsand noted that the Cubs could look for pitching in return, and the Mets do have several young arms they could move this winter. They also face a Rule 5 Draft roster crunch, which means they may have to make more cuts than they’d like.
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The financial picture may get even trickier depending on how the next collective bargaining agreement shapes the market, since timing can move free-agent salaries in either direction. For the Mets, the question is not simply whether Holmes fits, but whether he fits as part of a larger pitching plan that might also include other additions. Sean Manaea and Tarik Skubal enter the broader conversation as benchmarks for value and impact, but Holmes remains the name that could force New York to decide how aggressively it wants to buy stability on the mound. [Read more 🡒]