MLB Trade Rumors: Red Sox & Mets Proposed Deal Swaps Notable Young Players

The Boston Red Sox have an overcrowding situation in their outfield but could use a new third baseman. Conversely, the New York Mets are a little crowded on the infield after a couple of offseason moves, and they could use a young hand in the outfield.

The result, says David Schoenfield of ESPN, should be a proposed trade between the teams that would swap two notable young players. It would look like this:

Boston Red Sox receive:

Brett Baty, INF

New York Mets receive:

Wilyer Abreu

With the departure of Alex Bregman in free agency to the Chicago Cubs, the Red Sox have a huge hole to fill at the hot corner. Baty was the Mets' No. 2 prospect for several years, but never really got a foothold in the big leagues until his third crack at it, in 2025. At the age of 25, he started to show his potential, with 18 homers and 50 RBIs in 393 at-bats, with a 111 OPS+.

Baty split his time between second and third base, but with Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette now manning those spots in the Mets' infield for 2026, Baty has gotten squeezed out to DH, at best. This move would give the youngster a new lease on major league life, with Boston.

Meanwhile, Abreu, who is currently part of a four-man outfield in Boston with Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Jaren Duran, would get himself a full-time starting spot in New York. The Mets have a vacancy in the outfield after trading longtime OF Brandon Nimmo and dumping Jeff McNeil. Abreu is a two-time Gold Glover in right field and would be an exciting young player to add, likely allowing them to move the defensively-challenged Juan Soto to left.

As Schoenfield writes, "this trade makes a lot of sense... Both are still pre-arbitration with four years of team control remaining."