1. East Coast Bias is a real thing - most East Coast fans and most of the major media in any sport don't think superstars should play anywhere but NYC, Boston, Philly, etc... Fans spit balling trades is one thing, actual members of the media doing so (and being serious about it) is another.
2. Just this morning I found 5 articles rumoring that Buxton should be/will be traded, 3 suggesting NYY, Philly or ATL, a 4th was behind a paywall (I will assume because was Tim Dierkes at MLBTR it was suggesting an East Coast team) and the other team mentioned was Cincinnati. 5 articles written about trading a guy with both a no-trade clause and 10 & 5 rights, most suggesting he be traded to an East Coast team....yeah, there's no media/pundit bias there at all!!!
3. Before the 2025 season McLean (your trade example) was ranked #99 by BA, #74 by BP and not a Top 100 prospect in the eyes of MLB.com or FanGraphs, so roughly a #85 prospect or lower, and would have been easily attainable in a Ryan (or Lopez) trade in 2025 by your estimate of trade return. Before 2026 he was never ranked as the best prospect in the Mets system, but the Mets were right to not trade him as he has outperformed expectations.