If ever two teams needed each other in trade discussions, it’s the New York Mets and San Diego Padres.
The Mets are under pressure to fortify their roster after losing closer Edwin Díaz and first baseman Pete Alonso to free agency this week. The Padres are trying to save money while replenishing their rotation with controllable starting pitchers.
The teams are engaging, according to people briefed on their conversations. Neither of their rumored superstars, Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor nor Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., are part of the talks. Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth was not a Mets target even before New York reached an agreement Saturday on a two-year, $40 million contract with Jorge Polanco, who could help replace Alonso.
However, a number of Padres players who would fit the Mets’ needs are under discussion, as are a number of Mets youngsters who could help the Padres.
The Padres’ players in the talks include right-hander Nick Pivetta, outfielder Ramón Laureano and relievers Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada. San Diego, in turn, is asking the Mets about their young major leaguers and all of their top prospects, both pitchers and position players.
No deal appears close. None will necessarily come to pass. The Padres might prefer to trade players individually rather than package them together in any combination. And Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is known in the industry for his whirlwind style, talking with all teams during transactional periods and weighing a dizzying number of possible moves and contingency plans.
Coming off a second straight postseason appearance and fourth in six years, Preller’s challenge this offseason is to build another competitive team on a tight budget. Fangraphs currently projects the Padres’ payroll at $201 million. Amid a pending lawsuit and exploration of a sale, team sources indicate the target for Opening Day is not far above that number.
Pivetta would give the Mets the short-term starter they desire; he will earn $19 million in 2026, then can opt out of his final two years and $32 million. Laureano, under contract for one more season at $6.5 million, could replace Brandon Nimmo in left field, and any of the relievers would help replenish a bullpen that just lost Díaz as its anchor.
The Mets made a strong bid to acquire Miller from the Athletics at the trade deadline. He is projected to earn $3.4 million in his first year of arbitration and is under club control for four more seasons.
Devin Williams currently looms as Díaz’s replacement. The Mets also subtracted three relievers who left as free agents (Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto), with a fourth (Ryne Stanek) expected to follow. The Mets, in their search for reinforcements, lost the bidding not only for Díaz, but also for Rogers and Robert Suarez.
The Padres, meanwhile, are attracted to the Mets’ young pitchers, three of whom — Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong — made their debuts last season. Of those, McLean is thought to be untouchable, or close to it. A less familiar pitcher on the 40-man roster, Jonathan Pintaro, also holds appeal to teams, according to people familiar with New York’s talks. And the Mets’ improved farm system also includes a number of highly regarded position players, starting with outfielder Carson Benge and infielder Jett Williams, who also could help the Padres rebalance their payroll.
The Padres already have lost Suarez and right-hander Dylan Cease as free agents, and right-hander Michael King figures to be the next to go. Yu Darvish will miss all of 2026 after undergoing UCL repair surgery with an internal brace on his right elbow. Behind Pivetta, Joe Musgrove is returning from Tommy John surgery, and Randy Vásquez finished last season with an expected ERA of 5.38, far above his actual 3.84, indicating he benefited from luck.
Trading Pivetta, then, would seem to make little sense, unless Preller could gain the payroll flexibility and prospect capital to help him land multiple controllable starters. In Preller’s trade of Juan Soto two years ago, he turned a potential free agent into less prominent but more affordable major leaguers. One of those players was King.
A blockbuster involving, say, Pivetta, Laureano and Miller, would go a long way to changing the Mets’ current narrative. But it would require a monster return, and even then, Preller might be better off making separate deals.
Laureano, for example, is a right-handed hitting outfielder in an industry starved for such players. Taylor Ward, another potential free agent, is projected to earn $13.7 million in arbitration, more than twice as much as Laureano’s guarantee. Laureano, 31, is six months younger, coming off a better offensive season and capable of playing center field, though he is better in a corner. The return for him alone could exceed what the Los Angeles Angels received for Ward — in exchange for oft-injured pitcher Grayson Rodríguez, a former top prospect who could be a top-of-the-rotation starter if he ever gets healthy.
Of course, trading Laureano would require Preller to find a replacement in left field, preferably controllable. That is one scenario already under consideration — and another moving part that could complicate any deal involving Laureano.
Preller has made two previous trades with Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, both when Stearns was running the Milwaukee Brewers. The first was in November 2019, when the Padres acquired pitcher Zach Davies and outfielder Trent Grisham for pitcher Eric Lauer, infielder Luis Urías and cash. The second, at the 2022 deadline, was perhaps the most controversial deal of Stearns’ career.
While in contention, the Brewers sent closer Josh Hader to the Padres for outfielder Esteury Ruiz and pitchers Robert Gasser, Dinelson Lamet and Taylor Rogers. Stearns’ replacement, Matt Arnold, later flipped Ruiz in a trade for catcher William Contreras, who developed into an All-Star. Gasser, after recovering from Tommy John surgery, remains part of the Brewers’ pitching plans.
Can Stearns and Preller combine on another blockbuster? The odds are against it, considering the difficulty of making trades. The Mets and Padres, however, can make their respective puzzle pieces fit in any number of ways.