Why the Minnesota Twins Should Trade for Mets Infielder Mark Vientos

[TopGunn#22]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Larnach and Clemens are likely to deliver as many HRs as Bell and Vientos.

I don't usually disagree with you bean5302, but I will in this instance.  Larnach hit 17 HR's last year.  His high had been 15 in 2024.  Clemens hit 19 HR's last year.  His previous high was FIVE.  Clemens could very well struggle to hit 10 this year and Larnach will be playing for somebody else.

Bell's career high for HR's was 37.  Throw that out as an outlier.  His last 2 seasons he's hit 22 and 19.  In 2024 Vientos hit 27 and last year matched Larnach's career high of 17.  It is highly unlikely that Larnach and Clemens would come close to Bell and Vientos in HR's.

My preferred trade is Ober for Jordan Lawler.  My absolute WISH trade is Ober for White Sox Catcher Edgar Quero.  (Word is the White Sox are listening to offers.  If I could get Quero for Ober or SWR,  I'd deal Ryan Jeffers before losing him to FA in 2027).  I could see accepting an Ober for Vientos trade,  if Vientos played 1B and Bell DH'd.  

But it would be at least 3rd on my list of what I'd like to see in a trade for Ober, and I could probably find a few others that would be better than Vientos.  

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Bailey Ober wasn't a 5 era pitcher in any year prior to 2025. Frankly his 2023 and his 2024 were very good. But I have to think that they want to see some bounce-back from him prior to thinking about trading him anyway.

His velocity has always been a weakness and the Mets are one of those front offices that overly worships it. 

This trade is the most not happening trade in the history of this website. Both sides hate it. 

1 hour ago, TopGunn#22 said:

My preferred trade is Ober for Jordan Lawler. 

I keep hearing people proposing trading Twins junk for Lawlar. Lawlar was a consensus top 30 prospect last offseason and continued to hit in AAA. People here are really overrating Ober if they think he's going to return someone of his caliber just because he struggled in limited playing time in the majors. 

I don't even like him as a prospect, but I would be livid if the Twins traded Emmanuel Rodriguez for someone like Bailey Ober. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 minute ago, NYCTK said:

His velocity has always been a weakness and the Mets are one of those front offices that overly worships it. 

This trade is the most not happening trade in the history of this website. Both sides hate it. 

I keep hearing people proposing trading Twins junk for Lawlar. Lawlar was a consensus top 30 prospect last offseason and continued to hit in AAA. People here are really overrating Ober if they think he's going to return someone of his caliber just because he struggled in limited playing time in the majors. 

I don't even like him as a prospect, but I would be livid if the Twins traded Emmanuel Rodriguez for someone like Bailey Ober. 

Only here to say that Bailey Ober and David Peterson both had similar average fastball velocities in 2024. But I agree I don’t see a trade happening either 

[NYCTK]

3 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Only here to say that Bailey Ober and David Peterson both had similar average fastball velocities in 2024. But I agree I don’t see a trade happening either 

Kind of true. But even then, Petersons fastball is 2 clicks faster. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

10 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Kind of true. But even then, Petersons fastball is 2 clicks faster. 

And if Ober doesn’t get his velocity back to those levels he won’t be long for the Twins rotation either

[TopGunn#22]

The Ober for Lawler trade keeps getting suggested on here because Lawler has a BBTV of 20.6 and Ober 21.0.  Lawler is stuck behind Ketel Marte at 2B and Geraldo Perdomo at SS.  He's been rumored to be traded for quite some time now.  The Twins interest would be in seeing him compete for SS with Lee and 2B with Keaschall (who could be moved to LF). 

Lawler has hit at AAA but struggled in a couple of looks in the majors.  He's not a "Top 30 Prospect" but he does regularly show up in Top 100 lists. 

Here's how the D-Backs themselves ranked their prospects at the end of the 2025 season:

1. Ryan Waldschmidt OF.  2. Slade Caldwell OF.  3. Kayson Cunningham SS.  4. Demetrio Crisantes Infield.  5. Druw Jones OF. 6. Jordan Lawler SS.  7. Daniel Eagen RHP.  8. Yordin Chalas RHP.  9. Tommy Troy INF/OF  10. Mitch Bratt LHP.  Source: MLB.com and Prospects Live.   

As I always qualify:  BBTV is not the be all, end all.  But if 2 players are valued THAT close it's not as unlikely as you think.  The D-Backs have massive needs in their rotation.  37 year old Merrill Kelly was just re-signed and Zac Gallen is a Free Agent.  The D-Backs may, or may not be interested in Ober, but he fits as a veteran presence at #3-#5 in their rotation.  

[mluebker]

There seems to be a remarkable zeal this winter for lousy defenders who are streaky hitters. Maybe look harder for solid defenders who are streaky hitters? With a decent rotation, maybe they could hold other teams to few enough runs that even the streaky guys could put a few on the board and win some games.

[HerbieFan]

Pass

[SteveLV]

Lawler is an interesting player. I would consider him only if the Twins FO is not sold on Culpepper staying a SS in the majors. 

[Jose Herrera]

6 hours ago, MinnInPa said:

Wallner is the guy to change to 1B.. extreme liability in OF.  He should be practicing that position right  now ..and this should be his only option to make the team. Better hitting options in Gonzales, Rodriques and Jenkins

Matt Wallner is our 2019 first round pick. He is 6 foot 4 inches 220 lbs and a left handed hitter. First off, Joe Mauer had a similar pedigree. Secondly, Matt has had two decent seasons hitting in the MLB already.

All things considered, why not give him a shot at first?

 

 

[DocBauer]

In principle, I like this idea. He appears to be an acceptable 1B...which might be where he plays the most...who can cover 3B once in a while. He's young, inexpensive, controllable, has power, and has room to improve.

That all makes sense. One good season out of 2 full seasons and 2 partial seasons for Ober doesn't thrill me, however. So I'm probably going to say pass on this, but it's a practical idea that has some validity. I just don't see a long term fit.

While he doesn't have as much power, and would cost more $, you could sign an older version in Miguel Andjuar on a 1yr and keep Ober. And he'd be a better HITTER than Vientos. And you haven't blocked K-Pepper when he's ready...hopefully July...to play SS and 3B/2B, with Lee also being able to cover those same spots as well. And since Clemens actually has played some 3B, I'm still of the idea he should play there some in ST as well in order to be at least an "emergency" option there as well.

It's a constructive idea, just not one I'm sold on. 

[arby58]

Steve Adams at Baseball Trade Rumors isn't high on Vientos. In a question in his mailbag from a Mets fan and 'trade, start, bench' for three players he responded: "I don't think any of the ...three (Vientos, Maurico, Acuna) are all that likely to be big league regulars, but I prefer Vientos' bat to the other two."

Sort of damning with faint praise, as he finished with "Also doubt any of Vientos, Maurico or Acuna is more than a complementary part of trade package at this juncture. No one is giving up much to acquire them." 

[ashbury]

10 minutes ago, arby58 said:

Steve Adams at Baseball Trade Rumors isn't high on Vientos. In a question in his mailbag from a Mets fan and 'trade, start, bench' for three players he responded: "I don't think any of the ...three (Vientos, Maurico, Acuna) are all that likely to be big league regulars, but I prefer Vientos' bat to the other two."

Sort of damning with faint praise, as he finished with "Also doubt any of Vientos, Maurico or Acuna is more than a complementary part of trade package at this juncture. No one is giving up much to acquire them." 

Then Larnach for Vientos, if the latter serves any particular purpose that I'm not currently seeing.  After trading away Nimmo the Mets might value a veteran on a moderate salary who can provide a floor in case some of their preferred options don't pan out.

[weitz41]

Just to scratch the surface. Vientos has had positive WAR in 1 of his 4 seasons. Some are only partial but. If you take out that one good season he has -1.4 war in 202 games. That doesn't feel like a step in the right direction. Ryan Mountcastle seems like a better fit.

[twinstalker]

2024 is an outlier season for Vientos.  Foremost, his BABIP was about 55 points higher than usual, probably because he was all or nothing (strikeouts), and the denominator therefore was small.  Pitchers obviously adjusted in 2025, so the "all" didn't result in the power of the year prior.

2025 was close to the max I'd projected for Vientos when I studied him a couple of years ago.  2024 was the common outlier a player might put up early prior to the book being completed.

Emmanuel Rodriguez is similar hitter whose 15 minutes will occur well before the book is complete, though it's not a certainty he'll get 15 minutes.

[laloesch]

On 12/22/2025 at 10:55 AM, SteveLV said:

Quick follow up:  If Vientos was a FA, would you even want the Twins to look at him?  No.

So why would we trade assets for him?

Bingo. And someone mentioned Ober for Vientos.  I think that’s selling pretty low for Ober, no thanks. Ober is gonna bounce back