The 2026 season is down the drain, and the Mets are sellers. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun coming up with trades ahead of the deadline. Let’s consider some of the more obvious pieces that are likely to be moved here in Part 1, before moving on to to the bigger names in Part 2.
A.J. Minter to the Twins
Twins receive: LHP A.J. Minter
Mets receive: OF Jhomnardo Reyes, RHP Matt Barr
The Twins surprisingly find themselves one game out of a playoff spot at the time of this writing in the very weak AL, and have already begun begun adding to their bullpen when they traded for Tommy Nance. A.J. Minter would be a legitimate late-inning option in Minnesota who helps against left handed batters—Twins southpaw relievers have a 4.66 ERA and a 10.6% K-BB%.
As we discussed in the trade primer, we’re looking for something like a reduced version of the Ryan Helsley return from last season. Jhomnardo Reyes is the Jesus Baez stand-in, a recent Twins IFA ($300K in 2025) who had a nice DSL debut and is bashing to the tune of .291/.406/.547 in the complex as an 18-year-old this season. He’s the good version of the stereotypical Dominican right field prospect, with all the positives and negatives that entails.
As for Barr, he was a very interesting 2025 draft pick out of Junior College (SUNY Niagara) who hasn’t put it together yet in his debut season. He’s got a big, lanky frame with interesting fastball traits and feel for spin. In other words, a ball of clay to throw in the dev system and see what happens.
Brooks Raley to the Mariners
Mariners receive: LHP Brooks Raley
Mets receive: LHP Mason Peters, IF/OF Diego Contreras
Similar to the Twins, the Mariners could really use some left-handed relief help, and the Mets can push for a similar return to the Minter deal above. Mason Peters is one of the more interesting breakout arms this season, dominating Single-A (1.41 ERA, 32.4% K-BB%) in his debut season out of Dallas Baptist. His fastball sits in the mid-90s and works well up in the zone. His best offspeed pitch is a curveball in the high 70s, a pitch that doesn’t always work as guys move up the ladder but perhaps a potential starting point for further shape refinement going forward.
Contreras is a less heralded IFA out of Colombia who posted a good triple slash in the DSL in 2025 with an overly passive approach and has shown a bit more in the complex this season. Consider him a stand in for the sort of low-minors flier piece that would round out this deal which the Mets (who have orders of magnitude information and aptitude) could more effectively pick out.
Tyrone Taylor to the Pirates
Pirates receive: OF Tyrone Taylor
Mets receive: RHP Carlos Mateo
The Pirates should be adding more than this but do you really expect them to? Yeah, me neither. Adding some marginal OF depth to push Billy Cook back to Triple-A is a very Pirates move. The Mets can take a flier on Mateo, a 20-year-old with very interesting fastball traits but highly questionable command while clearing the way for Nick Morabito to get some run down the stretch. The Pirates can say they added at the deadline and move an arm they’ll likely never notice is gone. Everyone wins.
Huascar Brazobán to the Rays
Rays receive: RHP Huascar Brazoban
Mets receive: RHP TJ Nichols
For some reason, Brazobán just feels like a guy the Rays would appreciate. He gets it done in any role—opener, fireman, late-inning guy—and does it with an arsenal and shape of production that isn’t exactly typical. You can just see Tampa, who sit atop the AL East currently but could probably use some reinforcement in their pitching staff, valuing that unconventional piece more than some other teams. They also probably value Brazobán’s cheap control after this season.
Trading with the Rays is always dangerous, but it also presents a distinct opportunity. Because the Rays always have a crowded 40-man situation, they might be more willing to move talent that, on paper, is a bit rich, but who they’d be forced to leave exposed to Rule 5 in the offseason anyway. There’s a number of names you could pick out for this, but let’s go with right hander TJ Nichols, who will need to be added to the 40-man this offseason.
Nichols has not been particularly good this season in Double-A, with an undisclosed early season injury seemingly derailing his 2026. His 2025 season, however, was electric, and he at one point seemed ticketed for top-100 prospect status. He could be a #3 starter, more of a back-end guy, a reliever, or nothing at all, but this is the sort of higher upside dice roll you’d like to see the Mets take if it’s available to them.
Luis Robert to the Astros
Astros receive: OF Luis Robert Jr. (remainder of 2026 salary covered by New York)
Mets receive: RHP Bryce Mayer
The Luis Robert gamble has not worked out for the Mets (though they gave up basically nothing to roll the dice here). Lumbar spine inflammation has kept Robert out since late April, and he’s now been effectively supplanted by A.J. Ewing in center.
But the Astros may very well channel their inner Tobias Fünke and convince themselves that Robert might work for them. After all, he was quite good in the second half of 2025 for Chicago; who’s to say he doesn’t have another second half run in him? Houston desperately needs outfield help and is still very much in the playoff hunt on the back of Yordan Alvarez’s MVP-caliber season.
The return is Bryce Mayer, a 24-year-old righty with big extension, high spin, and a low release height, all the key fastball ingredients…except the most important one, velocity. Even though he sits in the low 90s, the pitch plays up. He’s still working on refining his secondaries and improving his command (more than 5 walks per 9 in Double-A this season) but their are a lot of appealing modern ingredients here worth taking a shot on. The cost may seem high based on ordinal team lists, but when you account for how weak the Astros’ farm is it’s much more reasonable, particularly with the Mets kicking in some money for the cash-strapped Astros.
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