A few days after the New York Mets stunned fans by sending Brandon Nimmo to Texas, the reality of the roster looks a little different. You can squint at the depth chart all you want, but the need is obvious. There’s Juan Soto locked into right field for the next decade and a half, Carson Benge knocking louder with every scouting report, and not nearly enough certainty beyond that.
A New Hole That Needs a Real Answer
Moving Nimmo wasn’t just a transactional shuffle. It removed the heartbeat of the outfield, the on-base engine the Mets could count on even in the messiest stretches of a season, even if he’s declining a bit in certain areas. Now the team is looking for production, stability, and something resembling the everyday presence Nimmo quietly provided.
Cody Bellinger fits the profile. Not perfectly, but comfortably enough that it’s no surprise the Mets have been orbiting his market since the moment he opted out of his final year with the Yankees. The organization has developed a bit of a habit of collecting players with Bronx ties, and history suggests they’re not shy about crossing borough lines again if the circumstances feel right.
A Market Heating Up
On Wednesday, Jon Morosi reported that Bellinger’s market is gaining traction, with the Mets sitting firmly in the mix. It tracks. The front office can see the same thing everyone else does: Bellinger may not light up leaderboards with elite contact metrics, but he knows how to shape at-bats and get results.
His 2025 season with the Yankees was a reminder of the player he can still be. A 4.9 fWAR campaign. Twenty-nine home runs. Ninety-eight RBI. A 125 wRC+. And maybe, yes, the Bronx can sometimes be a cheat code for certain swings, but production is production, and the Mets aren’t in a position to nitpick.
What they are in a position to do is decide whether Bellinger’s long-term price tag aligns with the rest of their roster-building puzzle. His ask is significant. It should be. Players with his resume and left-handed thump don’t hit the market every winter.
The Fit and the Dilemma
From a baseball standpoint, the fit makes easy sense. Slotting Bellinger next to Soto gives the Mets a dangerous lefty duo, and pairing him with Francisco Lindor’s switch-hit balance gives the lineup a healthier shape. Bellinger also brings defensive flexibility and postseason experience, two qualities this team could use as it tries to move from interesting to legitimate threat.
But the Mets have real problems on the pitching side, problems that won’t solve themselves and won’t be cheap to address. Committing substantial years and dollars to Bellinger could tighten the budget for arms, and David Stearns knows better than most how quickly a roster can wobble when the rotation and bullpen don’t hold up their end.
Where the Mets Go from Here
So this becomes the familiar offseason push-and-pull: need versus price, fit versus risk, talent versus timing. The Mets can absolutely justify adding Bellinger. They can also justify shying away if the contract stretches too long into a future they’re trying to build carefully.
Momentum is there, the interest is real, and the roster has a gap large enough to fit a player of his caliber. Now it’s a matter of whether the Mets believe Cody Bellinger is the piece that gets them closer to where they want to go, or simply a luxury they can’t afford while too many other questions remain.
Either way, the next move will say plenty about how aggressively the Mets plan to chase 2026.
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