Former Pirates trade dream is becoming an early nightmare for the Mets

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the offseason in desperate need of a third baseman. Ke'Bryan Hayes was offloaded at the 2025 trade deadline in a salary dump, freeing up both the roster spot and money to pursue a full-time replacement.

The team's pursuit of Eugenio Suárez fell through once he reunited with his original team in Cincinnati, though that merely pushed them to look toward the trade market. One name in particular kept coming up in rumors: Mark Vientos.

On the surface, the idea made sense. A former top prospect who had a brilliant rookie season in 2024, the Pirates were looking to buy low on Vientos after he slowed down last year.

Well, let's just say that it's a good thing that no deal ever came to fruition. Vientos has been even worse this season than he was last year, which has a lot of New York Mets fans calling for him to get booted off the team.

The Pirates could always grab him off waivers. Just saying.

Nick Gonzales' breakout should have Pirates fans greatful that Mark Vientos trade never happened

Entering May, Vientos was hitting .237/.289/.355 in 83 plate appearances for the Mets, good for an 82 wRC+. His underlying metrics portend more success at the plate, but it's not like he's provided much utility outside of the batter's box this year, either -- he's been a net-negative defender at first base and subpar on the basepaths as well. Add it all up, and you've got someone worth -0.3 fWAR through the first month of the 2026 season.

Vientos, by the way, is an even worse defender at third base (-20 defensive runs saved there in his career). He would not have been the answer to replace Hayes.

Luckily, while he toils away in New York, the Pirates have gotten steady contributions from Nick Gonzales, who is running away with the third base job right. Through the end of April, the former first-round pick hit .317/.366/.365. His 107 wRC+ was the sixth-best on the team, and his strong defense all over the infield contributed heavily to his 0.8 fWAR.

Gonzales has been so good that he's basically pushed Nick Yorke out of the starting discussion entirely, not to mention the fact that Jared Triolo is now likely to return to his utility role once he's healthy.

Not every move the Pirates made this past offseason is working out (see: Ozuna, Marcell), but there was a decisiveness behind the front office's decisions that have beneffited the Pirates greatly thus far in 2026. Failing to complete a trade is rarely on the list of "best choices" a team's braintrust can make, but passing on Vientos appears to have been one of the better calls the Bucs have made in some time.

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