Mets May Have To Sacrifice Top Prospects To Fix This Roster

With a thin free-agent market and glaring lineup needs, the Mets are poised to leverage their top prospects for potential trade deals this offseason.

The Mets have spent the year building up their prospect stock, but this winter could be the moment that depth gets put to work.

With the 2026-2027 free-agent class thinner than usual, the trade market looks like a more realistic place for New York to attack its biggest needs. The front office still has work to do on the starting rotation, bullpen and first base, which means David Stearns may have to lean on the farm system he just fortified by adding 13 prospects at the trade deadline. Nine of those newcomers now sit in MLB Pipeline’s top 30 for the organization.

That gives the Mets something they didn’t have before: real flexibility. And if the right deal comes along, it would not be a surprise to see New York move one of these five prospects.

Jack Wenninger fits the profile of the kind of pitching prospect teams usually ask for in major trades. He was supposed to be the next Mets arm to reach the big leagues, and for good reason. In Double-A Binghamton, the right-hander put together a strong run with a 2.92 ERA and 147 strikeouts over 135.2 innings.

The jump to Triple-A Syracuse, though, was bumpy. Wenninger battled his control there, issuing 68 walks in 115 innings and finishing with a 4.54 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.

Even with those issues, he still profiles as one of the 10-12 starters Stearns wants in the majors and minors heading into next season. That makes him valuable - and potentially movable.

If the Mets chased an established starter like Joe Ryan from the Minnesota Twins, Wenninger could be part of the price. Stearns already made a similar kind of move last winter, dealing Brandon Sproat to the Milwaukee Brewers for Freddy Peralta.

Luke Voit is the kind of prospect fans would hate to lose, and for good reason. The former first-round pick broke out in his first full minor league season, hitting .273 with a .371 on-base percentage, 13 home runs and 45 stolen bases in 105 games split between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. That performance earned him Mets Minor League Player of the Year honors.

New York would naturally prefer to keep him, especially with the possibility of an MLB debut next season. But if the Mets decide to go after a top-of-the-rotation arm, Voit could wind up as the centerpiece of the package. The organization has already shown it will part with premium talent when the target is right, with Jett Williams included in the trade that brought Freddy Peralta to New York last offseason.

Jett Morabito gives the Mets a different kind of trade chip. His brief major league cameo last season didn’t go well, but the minor league production tells a more useful story.

In 114 games with Triple-A Syracuse, he hit .254 with a .743 OPS, 13 home runs and 42 stolen bases. Those 13 homers were a career high, more than doubling his previous best of six.

Morabito’s calling card is still speed, not power. He uses a quick, compact swing and top-tier wheels to create offense.

But his path in New York looks crowded, with Juan Soto, A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge all in front of him.

When there’s no clear route to an everyday role, a player like that can become a very attractive trade piece.

Jacob Reimer may be the most intriguing name of the group. Ranked sixth in the Mets’ system by MLB Pipeline, the 22-year-old surged up the prospect ladder after a huge 2025 season, posting a .282 average, .870 OPS and 17 home runs across High-A and Double-A.

This year was a different story. A groin injury knocked him off track, and in 80 games with Double-A Binghamton he hit just .232 with eight home runs.

Even so, he remains a well-regarded bat who could help a major league club as soon as next season. With Voit and Jefferson Rojas also in the organization, the Mets may decide Reimer is one of the pieces they can afford to discuss in trades.

Ryan Clifford is another name worth watching. At one point, he was viewed as Pete Alonso’s possible replacement after the Mets let their all-time home run leader walk in free agency.

But 2026 was rough. In 115 games with Triple-A Syracuse, Clifford hit .180 with a .277 on-base percentage, though he still flashed his power with 18 home runs.

The bigger concern was the strikeout rate: 37% of his plate appearances ended that way, and the slump pushed him out of the Mets’ top 10 prospect list.

Clifford is also eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason, which means the Mets would need to protect him on the 40-man roster. The club will likely do that, given the roster space available and the power still in his profile. But if the offseason gets tight and every roster spot starts to matter, Clifford could still surface as a trade option.

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