Dramatic waves continued to ripple across the baseball world on Friday afternoon, as fans were hardly given a chance to breathe after the stunning Kyle Tucker signing on Thursday night.
Friday was Bo Bichette’s turn to make headlines, as after Tucker turned down the Mets for greener pastures in Los Angeles, Bichette has reportedly taken Tucker’s Mets money and signed in New York on a three-year, $126 million contract.
While a name like Bichette is obviously the type of bat you get through the door and worry about an exact fit later, the fact remains that New York is in quite the logistical nightmare right now with their plethora of infielders that deserve big league playing time.
This is where the Kansas City Royals could come into play.
The overarching consensus is that despite their offseason activity so far, Kansas City still needs more impactful bats in this lineup for 2026.
The Mets have been rumored to be interested in starting pitching, with ties to Framber Valdez still prominent, so the Royals still appear have a way through the door with their immense starting pitching depth.
And while the Mets may not be able to give the Royals exactly the bat they’d want, like perhaps the Red Sox or Cardinals would be able to with Jarren Duran or Brendan Donovan, there’s still several intriguing names Kansas City could make work that could now very well be on the chopping block in New York.
Potential Royals-Mets trade partnership might be stronger than ever after Bo Bichette signing
At first glance, especially after the Mets traded Brandon Nimmo earlier this winter, New York likely isn’t able to provide the direct outfield help the Royals seem to desire. Outside of Juan Soto, their outfield looks very thin.
That being said, at this point beggars can’t be choosers and Kansas City needs to find a way to continue to beef this lineup by almost any means necessary.
Looking at the Mets infield picture, Bichette is reportedly set to occupy third base. Then moving around the diamond, fellow newcomers Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien have left side of the infield covered at first and second respectively, while Francisco Lindor will of course man the shortstop position.
So, who does this leave out in the cold?
The prime candidates are 2024 postseason hero Mark Vientos and a former top prospect who finally started to come into his own in 2025, Brett Baty.
While he’s not an outfielder and his abilities to play both first and third base won’t be necessary for the Royals, given the presence of Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia, Vientos wouldn’t be the first corner infielder in history to transition to the corner outfield. He also has some limited experience in left field during his time in the upper minors with the Mets.
After the underwhelming season he crafted in 2025 – he slashed .233/.289/.413 with a 97 wRC+ – following his 132 wRC+ breakout in 2024, Vientos looks increasingly out of place in this Mets lineup.
His 15-25 home run power potential though is certainly something that could be of use for the Royals, especially given their new hitter-friendly outfield dimensions. And with a flexible DH spot and perhaps a position change, his right-handed bat could be of real value in Kansas City if they can tap into some of that potential from two seasons ago.
Then, there’s Baty, who could potentially be a candidate for a position change but also has the benefit of being able to play second base, which given the underperformance of Michael Massey and Jonathan India in 2025 could be of real value here.
Baty comes with a lot more promise this offseason than he did last winter when trade talks really started to arise for the once promising prospect.
In 2025, he slashed .254/.313/.435 with 18 HR, 50 RBI and 111 wRC+ in a career high 130 games, flipping between second and third base.
Second base would seem like the obvious choice for him, with Massey’s ability to man a corner outfield spot if necessary, but perhaps Kansas City could see his solid defensive abilities and potentially test him out in the outfield too.
While the Royals could offer a variety of different arms in a potential deal, the obvious return candidate for the Mets here, if they truly are in the market for starting pitching, would be Kris Bubic, who’s coming off an All-Star season with only a year of team control remaining.
Given the Mets stretched financial commitments with multiple big money contracts, perhaps taking advantage of the short-term and attacking 2026, while everyone is guaranteed to be under contract, is the play here. With that in mind, an impact southpaw like Bubic could be intriguing.
The bottom line is though, bats seem ripe for the picking in Queens with too many names and not enough big league ABs to go around.
Now would be a great time for J.J. Picollo and the front office to get creative and prioritize the offense over anything else.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
