Mike Tauchman looked like he might force his way onto the Mets’ Opening Day roster back in spring training, when the 35-year-old outfielder put together a .241/.371/.448 line in 13 exhibition games. That production translated to a 120 wRC+, and for a while it seemed like he had put himself in position to earn a real role in Queens.
Then the torn meniscus hit in late March, and everything stalled. Tauchman landed on the 60-day injured list, and for months there were only scattered updates about where things stood. That silence left plenty of room for questions about whether he would even make it back to the Mets in 2026.
Now there’s at least a sign of life. Tauchman started a rehab assignment with the Florida Coast League Mets this week, which is a meaningful step even if the road back to the majors still figures to be long after a three-month layoff. He’s back in game action, and that alone changes the conversation.
It also changes the Mets’ roster picture. While Tauchman was sidelined, Carson Benge and A.J.
Ewing took the opportunity to push their cases as long-term starters alongside Juan Soto in the outfield. On a losing club, that leaves very little room for a veteran on a rental deal.
So the real question is the same one hanging over this whole situation: will Tauchman ever actually play for the Mets?
A trade could be the answer, and the San Diego Padres look like a natural landing spot. Tauchman won’t bring back much because of the injury, but he still has enough value to matter. Since his breakout with the Chicago Cubs in 2023, he has established himself as a dependable fourth outfielder who can hit enough to help and defend all three outfield spots.
The bat is built around one trait that tends to age well: getting on base. Tauchman draws walks, and he does it at a level that stands out.
That lines up neatly with a Padres team that needs more traffic on the bases. San Diego’s 9% walk rate ranks 14th in the league, while the Mets sit 25th at 8.1%.
Even so, the Padres are the worst team in the league in on-base percentage at .300, just behind the 29th-place Mets.
The profile makes sense. Tauchman has never walked below 10% in his career, and his on-base percentage has stayed above .350 in each of the past three seasons. That kind of skill set would help San Diego’s biggest offensive problem, and it probably wouldn’t cost more than a low-level prospect.
For the Mets, moving him before he ever appears in a game would be an odd ending to a stint that never really got started. But it may also be the best way to salvage value from one of their more interesting offseason additions. The deal would likely have to wait until he shows he’s healthy in the minors, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s gone before ever getting a chance to suit up in Queens.
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The more interesting part is whether the Mets would use that kind of swap to bring in a pitcher who is close enough to matter soon, but still has some development left in the tank. With A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley no longer in the mix, there is at least a path for a left-handed arm to get a look, and Seattles system has one that has been moving through the upper levels with strong strikeout numbers and steady run prevention. The wrinkle is timing, because a pitcher in that spot can be useful to a club now, while also carrying enough roster pressure that the other side has to decide whether to hold on or make a move before the offseason changes the calculus. [Read more 🡒]