According to some of the latest New York Mets rumors courtesy USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Chicago White Sox have the desire to add Mark Vientos in any potential deal for Luis Robert Jr. Nightengale didn’t expand beyond this. However, his wording seems to suggest the White Sox would want Vientos and more if Robert is coming to the Mets.
A long-thought-of trade candidate for the Mets to fill their need for a center fielder, Robert is popular in spite of his poor 2025 performance. He’s controllable with team options. His ceiling is high even if the results haven’t been.
Trading Vientos away would be cutting ties with a player who less than 365 days ago looked like a core member of the Mets lineup. So, if the White Sox want him, there’s only one player the Mets should be willing to give up along with him.
If the White Sox want Mark Vientos in a Luis Robert trade, the Mets should include number 00, Nada Nil Nothing-More
You’re kidding White Sox, right? Robert for Vientos straight up feels fair. The White Sox get something they seem to covet back for their struggling center fielder. They also clear his salary off the books for the remainder of 2025. Jerry Reinsdorf would greenlight the move for that alone.
The White Sox don’t have an exceptional number of players to trade. There’s Adrian Houser whose 2.10 ERA after 11 starts is one of the league’s biggest surprises, especially with how poorly things ended with the Mets last season. Outfielder Mike Tauchman is having a pretty good season, but as a cheap arbitration eligible player next season, not necessarily a trade candidate. Everyone else, like Tyler Alexander or Michael A. Taylor, are pending free agents who wouldn’t net them a whole lot.
Vientos has never felt like the ideal fit for the Mets at third base. His defense has taken a step back this year. Worse is how bad of a hitter he has been, mostly due to his absence of power. The Mets could probably accept a season like the one Francisco Alvarez had in 2023 when he hit for power but didn’t do much else. Vientos, outside of the occasional big hit like he had on Saturday, isn’t offering them nearly enough at the plate to justify making him untouchable in trade talks.
Interestingly, trading Vientos for Robert would give the Mets their best starting depth chart. Brett Baty no longer has to touch second base other than legging out a double. Jeff McNeil is an “in case of emergency” option in center field. Suddenly, the defense is a lot better and the lineup seems to have as high of a ceiling by swapping Vientos out and adding Robert in.
Previous Mets rumors claimed the White Sox were looking for multiple prospects in the “upper 20s.” Are they looking for one of those minor leaguers on top of Vientos? If so, they can take Nada Nil, Nothing-More, a Mets prospect from Parts Unknown batting 1.000 in the Neverneverland League.
