Devin Williams to the Phillies
Orioles receive: RHP Devin Williams
Mets receive: RHP Brad Keller, C Alirio Ferrebus
Devin Williams is due a good amount of money over the next two seasons and has not been particularly good. Even his peripheral metrics have slipped this year, though they’re a right sight better than his ERA still. Because of that, if he’s moving I think it’s mostly to dump 2028 money and for a not-super-exciting return.
The Phillies are one of the few viable fits I could find. Brad Keller is owed $13M in 2027 and
will likely miss most or all of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery before hitting free agency in 2028. Swapping Williams for him helps clear the table in 2028 for the Mets, while the Phillies get more short term help to prolong their rapidly closing window (frankly, they shouldn’t be thinking about 2028 at all at this point). The cost is Alirio Ferrebus, an IFA catcher out of Venezuela breaking out in Single-A this season with promising power and contact skills but serious questions about his plate discipline and long-term defensive home.
Of all the players we’ll discuss in part 1 and part 2, I think Williams is the least likely to move. It’s a tricky PR landscpae to navigate for the Mets, and you question just how much a buying team will believe he’s fixable. More than likely he’ll be on the team into 2027.
Clay Holmes to the Brewers
Brewers receive: RHP Clay Holmes
Mets receive: OF Josh Adamczewski
Holmes was another tricky name to place. On the one hand, his extended absence due to a fractured fibula combined with the player opt-out he holds for 2027 may mute his trade value. On the other hand, Shane Bieber – who had a more expensive contract and a more serious injury – returned Khal Stephen, a borderline top-100 prospect, at last year’s deadline. Further complicating things is the wide range of potential suitors. All of the Marlins, Braves, Phillies, Cubs, Astros, Rangers, White Sox, and Orioles could clearly use Holmes, and arguably so could the Dodgers and Rays.
I’ve got Holmes going to the Brewers here, who suddenly find themselves a bit thin in the rotation after Brandon Woodruff went down with a shoulder capsule injury. One of Brandon Sproat (not very good) or Logan Henderson (never healthy) is their current #2 starter, and even once Kyle Harrison returns Milwaukee could use a more reliable #3 option for the playoffs. Holmes is also quite affordable should he choose to opt-in (unlikely) or work out an extension with the Brewers.
The cost is Josh Adamczewski, a very Brewers-coded prospect (at one point a second baseman, on the shorter side, great plate approach, contact skills, rotational athleticism) who has seen his stock rise considerably in the low minors this season. He’s posted a 141 wRC+ in High-A and was even better in Single-A earlier in the season, showing improved power metrics while maintaining the aforementioned contact and plate discipline skills. Now, at the same time, he’s tumbled down the defensive spectrum, moving from the dirt to the outfield and a corner spot at that. He also may wind up having platoon issues, potentially relegating him to a long-side option in a corner OF spot. And the power isn’t standout. Nevertheless, there’s real upside here though for an OBP-driven hitter with some pop, and it’s a profile a modern-thinking team should be excited to bet on.
Adamczewski might be a touch rich here (he’s already a top-100 guy per BA), but it doesn’t hurt to dream a little sometimes.
Freddy Peralta and Luke Weaver to the Cubs
Cubs receive: RHP Freddy Peralta, RHP Luke Weaver
Mets receive: IF Pedro Ramirez, OF Ethan Conrad
The Cubs clearly need pitching help both in the rotation and the bullpen. They’ve already been linked to Peralta. And the Cubs and Mets already linked up on one trade this season. Clearly there’s a fit here, and packaging both Peralta and Weaver – arguably the Mets’ two best trade chips – gives them a shot at a more premium return.
Pedro Ramirez is the centerpiece, a 2B/3B who is already performing well in the majors and can cleanly slot into one of those spots for the 2027 Mets. There’s no star-level upside here, but he’s a useful player. As for the second piece, the Mets get Ethan Conrad, the Cubs’ first round pick out of Wake Forest last year. Conrad oozes upside, but missed the tail end of his college career with an injured shoulder and has been sidelined for much of this season with a bad back.
Another potential name? Jaxon Wiggins, elder brother of Aaron who the Mets just took in the first round of the 2026 draft. Jaxon was a top-100 arm prior to this season, but has dealt with an elbow injury and been quite poor in Triple-A when on the field this year. Catcher Owen Ayers is another name to keep an eye on as someone the Mets might target here.
Francisco Lindor to the Red Sox
Red Sox receive: SS Francisco Lindor
Mets receive: SS Trevor Story, UT Kristian Campbell, RHP Anthony Eyanson, 2B Henry Godbout
It has been suggested that the Mets might not move Lindor until the offseason, which frankly doesn’t make much sense to me. There are very few teams selling right now, putting the Mets in an advantaged position that might not exist in the offseason. Buyers will likely put significant value on Lindor’s second half production in a pennant race, value that is lost if he’s not moved now. And any offseason lockout would complicate negotiations.
So I think it makes more sense for him to move now. That still means, however, that we need to find a team with the right set of conditions:
- Clear contender with a plausible need on the infield
- Enough payroll space / reputation for spending to plausibly pay Lindor’s remaining contract
- City / team that Lindor will waive his NTC for
- Ideally a team with some sub-optimal money that the Mets could absorb as a partial offset
- A team with enough to offer to make it worth the Mets’ while
There are a few teams that come to mind—the Blue Jays, White Sox, Rangers, Yankees, Giants, Mariners, Tigers are all varying levels of credible—but ultimately I think the Red Sox are the best fit. Winners of their last 13 games, they’ve surged back into playoff position but remain clearly weak on the infield, particularly at shortstop. They’ve obviously got the payroll flexibility to absorb Lindor’s deal. It’s a reasonable market for Lindor to accept as a new home. They have a couple bad deals the Mets could absorb. And there are certainly enough prospects in a strong Red Sox system for the Mets to consider.
Let’s start with the bad money part of this. Trevor Story is, for all intents and purposes, cooked. He’s barely scraped league average offense the last two seasons and has a 46 wRC+ this season while dealing with a sports hernia, an injury that currently has him on the 60-day IL. He’s due $25M next year with a $5M buyout on a club option for 2028, so the Mets would be offsetting some of Lindor’s money by taking him back. This also aligns with treating 2027 as more of a transition year before clearing the deck in 2028 while giving the Mets at least a theoretical lottery ticket at shortstop next year.
Kristian Campbell is a former #1 overall prospect who received a long term extension from the Red Sox and promptly saw his hit tool collapse. He’s been awful in Triple-A this season and is owed the better part of $54M through 2032, an AAV of $7.5M for luxury tax purposes. That’s bad money, no doubt, but I also don’t think it’s the worst idea to roll the dice on a bounce-back here. Maybe there’s a rebound and Campbell can get back to being a useful utility guy. Or maybe it’s just a little bit of dead money that a team with the Mets’ payroll flexibility shouldn’t have a problem stomaching.
Then there are the prospects. Neither Anthony Eyanson nor Henry Godbout made the BP midseason top-50, but both are very interesting names with credible top-100 cases. Eyanson was connected to the Mets frequently prior to the 2025 draft and has seen a significant uptick to his stuff and prospect stock after being selected in the third round out of LSU. He currently has a 1.56 ERA and is striking out more than a batter an inning in Double-A. Godbout, meanwhile, went round 2C (12 picks ahead of Eyanson) and has been quite good in High-A, showing good plate discipline, contact, and improved power. Both players could potentially contribute in 2027 (Eyanson more likely than Godbout) and should clearly be on the radar for 2028, again lining up with the Mets’ new timeline.
It’s possible the Red Sox would have no interest in this sort of deal, or that Lindor’s name ID prompts another team to put even more on the table. This is the sort of return that I’d expect the Mets to get if a Lindor deal comes to fruition, no matter what team it is. If a deal of this caliber is on the table, they should pull the trigger.
