Mets mailbag, trade deadline edition: Clay Holmes' role, Mark Vientos' future, lineup upgrade?

New York Times

3 days ago

With one week left before the July 31 trade deadline, New York Mets beat writers Tim Britton and Will Sammon tackled questions regarding Clay Holmes' role, Mark Vientos' future and the possibility of upgrading the lineup.
Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.
Do the Mets plan to use Holmes as a reliever at some point to monitor his innings and strengthen the pen? — Jordan B.
Tim: At the moment, the Mets believe Holmes can do what Luis Severino and Sean Manaea did last season: blow past a reasonable innings expectation and remain effective into October as a starting pitcher. If the postseason started tomorrow, Holmes would be part of the rotation (though maybe in a piggyback situation with Frankie Montas). So as the Mets contemplate what bullpen additions they need to make in the next week, they're not mentally including Holmes as a reliever for October.
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Now, Severino and Manaea obviously hit a wall in last year's NLCS, and it sure is possible that Holmes, whose innings jump is going to be considerably bigger than the jumps those two veteran starters experienced, could hit that wall earlier. If he does and it shows in the results, that's when the Mets will more seriously consider talking with Holmes about a move to the pen. But it's not something they're planning to do pre-emptively.
Will: Like Tim said, I haven't heard anything to suggest that moving Holmes to the bullpen is part of some grand plan regarding the trade deadline. However, I wouldn't rule out the Mets trying to control Holmes' innings at some point, whether that is with shorter starts or in the bullpen.
Besides center field, is there any possibility of the Mets adding another bat? — Balthazar I.
Will: Based on my own reporting and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns' comments during his news conference Monday, it doesn't seem like adding a position player is a high priority. At third base, they feel good about what they have in young infielders Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos. If anything, it might be time to make things less crowded. As I reported Monday, the Mets are open to trading from their group of young infielders (which includes Luisangel Acuña). With Jeff McNeil playing some center field and with some at-bats at designated hitter up for grabs, the Mets — for the most part — are making playing time between the young infielders work. A trade for a center fielder, which is something they should strongly consider, changes the dynamic and moves McNeil more firmly at second base.
Mark Vientos doesn't seem like a Stearns guy (poor defense, poor speed, little versatility), but he also has no options. What are the realistic scenarios for Vientos at and after the deadline, especially with Starling Marte playing well? Does Vientos have trade value? —Emilie F.
Do the coaches see anything different this year versus last? The underlying metrics are not too far off, except he is pulling less. — Mike N.
Tim: Let's combine the two Vientos questions here.
First, Vientos has some trade value, but, as you probably suspect, not nearly as much as he had at the start of the season. It would not shock me if he were traded in the next week, but I don't expect him to be, in part because his right-handed bat can be a useful complement, even with Marte back, to Jeff McNeil and Brett Baty on the infield.
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The big difference in Vientos' season has been the quality of his contact. His plate discipline is pretty much in line with last year: He had plenty of chase and swing-and-miss in his game in 2024, too. But when he's connecting with the ball in 2025, the exit velocity is lower, and it's on the barrel less often. And that's been a concern for Vientos and the club dating to spring training — that the ball just wasn't coming off the bat as expected.
There's been some speculation inside the Mets that maybe Vientos' offseason focus on agility left him somewhat less strong than a year ago. I'm not sure how much I buy that explanation — and to be clear, they're not sure how much they buy that explanation — but in either case, the emphasis right now is getting the barrel on the ball more consistently. To do that, they've slowed down some of Vientos' pregame work in the cage, making sure he's concentrating on how well he's contacting each pitch. The Mets have seen progress there, and now they're hoping the results follow over the next two months.
Is there a world in which we see Drew Gilbert up after the trade deadline, if the Mets don't make a move for a center fielder? — Joshua E.
Will: In his news conference Monday, Stearns was asked about position-player prospects impacting the major-league team over the final two months. He didn't mention Gilbert or anyone else as a possibility. While talking about the pitchers from Triple A who have made their bullpen, he called it 'less likely' to see a position player make an impact.
About a month ago, a couple of scouts from other clubs I spoke with were down on Gilbert's offensive ability. However, in 15 games and 64 plate appearances this month, he owns a 1.055 OPS with four home runs. He has mostly played center field this season for Triple-A Syracuse.
Sounds like the Mets' Plan A is to acquire multiple relievers. Based on their roster and guys with lack of options, is it fair to presume they'll prioritize guys with options for this year and next? — Dylan K.
Will: It's an important observation: You're right that most of the Mets' relievers don't carry options. But the Mets should be eyeing impactful help, not the kind that will get shuttled back and forth from the minors. So, though they could acquire someone with options, I don't think that is the priority.
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I know the Mets are exploring rental relievers and players who have years of club control.
This is purely speculation, but nothing stops them from trading someone like José Buttó, who is out of minor-league options, while acquiring multiple relievers if they harbored any roster-construction concerns.
Amid recent rumors, do you deem Dylan Cease to be an ace-level starter? — James M.
Will: I haven't heard anything of significance brewing on the Cease front regarding the Mets.
Is there an idea on how David Stearns views contract extensions before players reach free agency? Have there been any rumblings of an extension between David Peterson, who has one more year of control? — David E.
Tim: Stearns viewed extensions as vitally important in Milwaukee and as less so in Queens. The Mets have the luxury of going year to year with players in arbitration and still being competitive in free agency to re-sign them, as they did with Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso. (In Nimmo's case, an extension would have saved them a lot of money; that's less clear in Alonso's case.)
And so there's less urgency to lock in younger players when you're less sure of their overall trajectory. Just think back to last offseason. Who would have been the two players most fans would want extended the most? Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos. Neither would look particularly good right now.
In general, extension negotiations happen more in the offseason and spring training than in the middle of the regular season. So it's not a surprise I haven't heard any rumblings of an extension with Peterson. That's another case in which the Mets can probably afford to play out the rest of this season and even into 2026 to get a better gauge of what Peterson could make as a free agent. In my opinion, the gap between Peterson's on-field results and many of his peripheral stats makes his open-market value harder to predict, at least for now.
(Top photo of Clay Holmes: Ishika Samant / Getty Images)