The New York Mets are one of the most expensive rosters in baseball, and if the team decides to extend Pete Alonso, among others, they could get even more pricey. To accommodate the expensive assets, young, cheap players are a core piece of team building.
In the starting rotation, Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat are all rookies with a lot of hype, all of whom are cheap, controllable arms for the Mets' expensive roster.
But for position players, there are a couple that could have important roles going forward, if the team decides to retain them. One of those players is Brett Baty. And according to Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Mets have made a firm decision with Baty after some trade rumors at the 2025 MLB trade deadline were on the table.
Brett Baty is expected to stay with the Mets despite trade rumors
"From the perspective of people within the Mets, per conversations with them," Sammon writes, "the outlooks for all three players (Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Francisco Alvarez) seem to remain high."
Not only do the Mets view Baty highly, but they also made their trade deadline moves with Baty in mind. "Baty's name came up a bunch at the trade deadline," Sammon writes. "But not as a candidate - he was a main reason the Mets did not acquire infield help."
These two notes from Sammon indicate that Mets' leadership believes in Baty and that he will have a role on the team going forward. Despite having the chance to trade him at the deadline, with teams likely interested, they will keep the young infielder instead.
This season has been the best Baty's had in his MLB career. He's played 127 games, 19 more than his previous career high in 2023. But the big difference is his value. In 2023, he had -0.7 WAR. This season, he's up to 2.8 WAR.
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Across his 384 at-bats, Baty has 97 hits, 51 runs scored, 13 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs, 47 RBIs, eight stolen bases, 33 walks, 106 strikeouts, and career highs in batting average (.253), on-base percentage (.313), slugging percentage (.430), and OPS (.742).
For the first time in his career, Baty is an above-average hitter, with a 109 OPS+ this season, by far the best of his big league career. He's been an okay defender at second and third base for the Mets this season. While he's not a Gold Glove caliber fielder, he isn't a terrible defender either, only slightly below average.
The 25-year-old is under control through the 2029 season, with arbitration beginning in 2027. He'll be a fairly cheap option for an expensive Mets roster, and he provides some infield flexibility as well.
According to Sammon's report, the Mets won't be moving on from Baty anytime soon, as the young infielder is a huge part of the Mets' plans going forward.
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