Playing GM: 5 Moves to Complete the New York Mets Roster for 2026

For listeners of the Just Baseball Show, we have reached the pinnacle of the offseason. It is time for us to start playing GM for every team in Major League Baseball!

Each year, Peter Appel, Jack McMullen, and Aram Leighton, the hosts of the Just Baseball Show, go team-by-team and break down the moves that should be made for each team to best set themselves up for the upcoming season.

For rebuilding teams, that could mean finding high upside free agents on one-year deals. For contenders, it usually means looking towards the very top of the trade and free agent markets to find the star players that can take teams to another level.

Each host brings five ideas to the table, and through going back and forth, they come to a conclusion on which five moves will be best for the given team in 2026.

Our first team of the series this year is the New York Mets, who have already had a controversial offseason with the departures of Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso in free agency, and the trade of their longest-tenured player, Brandon Nimmo.

The Mets have shaken up their core big-time. Having signed Devin Williams as the direct replacement for Edwin Diaz in the ninth inning, and most recently signing Jorge Polanco to help with the loss of Alonso.

Still, there is a lot of work to be done. Here are five moves the Mets should make to complete their roster for the 2026 season.

1. Trade for Jarren Duran

The New York Mets need an outfielder, and preferably, one who can play center field. With Juan Soto penciled into one corner, the Mets are currently projected to fill their outfield with Jeff McNeil in the other, and Tyrone Taylor in center field.

McNeil is on the trade block, as he is the last remaining member of the core that was blown up this offseason, with Brandon Nimmo traded for Marcus Semien, and both Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso leaving in free agency.

For now, the Mets are holding onto McNeil as an insurance policy all over the diamond while they make their free agent and trade pursuits.

Top prospect Carson Benge is expected to compete for a spot in spring training and is likely to become the starter in either left field or center at some point early in 2026. Benge would be better in a corner, but the Mets believe he can hold down center field when given the opportunity.

This gives them the ability to pursue either corner outfielders or center fielders, and slide Benge into whatever spot is vacant come spring training.

In free agency, Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger are still in play, but if the Mets want to avoid jumping into another long-term commitment after getting Nimmo off their books, they could look to swing a trade.

The Boston Red Sox have had Jarren Duran on the trade block since the deadline, with Roman Anthony ready to take over in left field, and a pair of Gold Glovers still on the roster with Ceddane Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu in center and right.

Duran is still a great young player, though, and the Red Sox have set a high price tag to move him. The Mets have a deep enough farm system that they could swing a deal, with top pitching prospects Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat being their most intriguing trade chips.

With the acquisition of Semien, the Mets don’t have a place in the infield for top shortstop prospect Jett Williams, who has also been passed on our top 100 by fellow speedster AJ Ewing.

Ewing has a better chance to stick in center field, but can also play second base, making Jett Williams more expendable in a potential blockbuster.

Proposed Trade Package: RHP Brandon Sproat and SS Jett Williams to the Red Sox for Duran

If this trade were to go through, the Red Sox would be getting two top 100 prospects in exchange for three years of Duran. Sproat could factor into their rotation as early as Opening Day.

For the Mets, they get a former All-Star, who posted 17 DRS and 7 OAA across 810 innings played in center field in 2024. Duran would slide right into center field for the Mets, allowing Benge to be eased into the big leagues in a corner.

Adding Duran would give the Mets an extra-base machine to plug into the top of their lineup, giving Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto a lot of opportunities to drive in a runner in scoring position.

2. Sign Framber Valdez to the Alex Bregman Contract

Last year, Alex Bregman signed a three-year, $120 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, with heavy deferrals that took the AAV down from $40 million per, closer to $31 million per when it came to the present-day value for the luxury tax.

The Mets can now look to employ the same strategy as a way to get Framber Valdez to agree to a short-term deal.

Valdez is likely looking for a contract that is at least five years in free agency, if not even trying to push closer to the seven years Dylan Cease got earlier this winter. If that long-term deal never materializes, Valdez will be looking to cash in on a high-AAV short-term deal, and this is where the Mets should strike.

Using significant deferrals would allow the Mets to give Valdez a gaudy number, but keep their luxury tax bill down as a repeat offender. They can further incentivize by giving him an opt-out after the 2026 season.

If he pitches well, the Mets can thank him for his services, and if he walks, they can just take that money and push it towards signing Tarik Skubal or Freddy Peralta in free agency next year. If Framber stays, he is only on the books for two more years, which allows them to still have that long-term flexibility.

The Mets need an ace atop their rotation, and Valdez would certainly fit the bill. One of the best groundball pitchers in the sport, Valdez would look very good with Francisco Lindor and Marcus Semien playing defense behind him up the middle.

3. Trade for Nick Pivetta and Adrian Morejon

The Athletic reported that the Mets and Padres have been in trade talks, as the two teams have some overlapping needs.

The Mets have too much depth, not enough high-upside performers, whereas the Padres’ problem is the inverse. If there is a trade to be made where the Mets can use their big league talent to address their roster, without having to dip into the top of their farm system, the Padres are the ideal team to trade with.

Nick Pivetta is coming off a great season with the Padres, and Adrian Morejon is one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball. Mason Miller has been rumored to be on the trade block as well, but the Mets would surely have to part with top prospect Jonah Tong to land him, and that cost may be a bit too steep for a reliever.

Morejon is a free agent next year, which makes him more expendable. Pivetta is owed $19 million this season. Pivetta then has a pair of player options for $14 million in 2027 and $18 million in 2028.

Since the contract favors the player, the team that acquires Pivetta is essentially taking on all the risk. If Pivetta is great in 2026, he walks; if not, he opts into $14 million in 2027. And if he is bad again, he gets even more money in 2028.

Because of this contract, the Mets could pry a frontline starter away here without parting from the top of their farm system. Instead, the headliner in our trade is sending Mark Vientos to the Padres, giving them a bounce-back candidate who flashed 30-HR power in 2024.

Still armed with four years of control, Vientos could be a middle-of-the-order bat that fills DH or first base for San Diego for years to come.

The other big piece in the trade is Kodai Senga, who we are sending with $10 million to cover a majority of his salary in 2026. Pivetta made just $4 million from the Padres in 2025, an identical number to what the Padres would be responsible for with Senga set to make $14 million in each of the next two years.

Senga has ace potential when he is right, and feels like the type of gamble AJ Preller would be willing to make at that reasonable price tag (you aren’t finding another Pivetta for $4 million in free agency).

A sweetener to complete the deal for the Padres would be Nick Morabito, who is just outside the Mets’ top 10 prospects in a loaded system, but would slot very comfortably within the top 10 of the Padres system in comparison.

Just added to the Mets’ 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft, Morabitio is a speedy center fielder who should start 2026 in Triple-A, but on the Padres, he could be a cost-controlled fourth outfielder immediately if they wanted to push him.

4. Sign Seranthony Dominguez

Since we recorded the episode, the Mets have already signed Luke Weaver to a two-year, $22 million deal, but they should be looking to hand out another if Seranthony Dominguez is open to coming to New York.

Dominguez is coming off a strong season split between the Orioles and the Blue Jays, and was one of the Jays’ most trusted arms in their World Series run.

A hard-thrower who has plenty of experience pitching in the NL East, Dominguez would give the Mets a trusted set-up man who offers a much different profile than Devin Williams and Weaver, two pitchers who rely on their change-ups to get outs.

Other hard-throwers to keep an eye on are a pair of relievers coming off injury-plagued seasons, with both Michael Kopech and Hunter Harvey fitting the bill of flamethrowers who could be signed on a one-year deal.

5. Sign Miguel Andujar

If the Mets trade Mark Vientos, they could use another right-handed bat to supplement their bench, and Miguel Andujar would certainly check that box.

The Mets have loved adding former Yankees of late, and Andujar once started his career in pinstripes. Back in 2018, Andujar finished runner-up in the Rookie of the Year race, finishing second to a guy by the name of Shohei Ohtani.

Andujar never sustained that early success, as 2025 is the first season where he has posted an .800+ OPS since that rookie campaign. In 2025, Andujar hit .318/.352/.470, with 10 home runs in just 341 PAs. He absolutely destroyed left-handed pitching, to the tune of a .389 average and a .578 slug.

Among hitters who got at least 90 plate appearances against southpaws, Andujar’s 171 wRC+ ranked seventh, showing he could be one of the premier lefty-mashers in the game.

While he is not a great defender, he’d be replacing a poor one in Vientos anyway, and has the ability to play left field, as well as third base. Andujar would be a nice complement to the left-handed Jeff McNeil, which would keep a pair of versatile bats on the Mets bench.

What Will the Mets’ Strategy Be?

Ultimately, when I look at the Mets roster right now, I view a rotation that needs an impact arm, a lineup that could use one more impact bat (at least), and a bullpen still in need of multiple additions.

The Mets can keep spending in free agency, but they have also been active on the trade market. The trade package we mocked to get Jarren Duran of Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams is really a great package that could be used in a variety of ways.

The Mets could put those two players on the table to get their foot in the door on Tarik Skubal if he actually gets traded. More realistically, those pieces could be sent to the Milwaukee Brewers in a deal for Freddy Peralta and Trevor Megill.

My expectation would be for the Mets to swing one big trade with their top prospects, make a big signing, and then make a trade using their MLB depth. This is how we landed on Duran as the blockbuster trade, Framber Valdez as the big signing, and the Pivetta/Morejon big leaguers for big leaguers trade.

The Mets could use the same assets and trade for Peralta/Megill, sign Cody Bellinger, and trade the MLB pieces like Senga and Vientos for a higher-priced arm like Luis Castillo or Pablo Lopez.

There are a lot of different ways they can play the market, but what we did was prioritize adding Duran as the best outfielder for the Mets. That left us spending on Framber instead of Bellinger.

Either way, the Mets have a lot of work to do this offseason, which made this episode of playing GM a particularly fun thought exercise.