The New York Mets have had a lot of decisions to make this offseason. They have been one of the busier teams during this hot stove period as the 2026 season approaches rapidly, but there is still time to leave an even further mark this winter.
After signing Bo Bichette to a $126 million deal, the Mets are thought to turn their attention to the Cody Bellinger sweepstakes, and also the trade market, where New York has the luxury of either trading high-profile players away or bringing them in. A recent article floated Mets’ $75 million starter Sean Manaea as an ‘available’ trade candidate this offseason, and it begs the question of whether the Mets would consider trading one of their southpaws.
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Bleacher Report Names Sean Manaea ‘Available’ Trade Candidate
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller recently did an in-depth piece looking at all the potential trade candidates for each position.
For a left-handed starting pitcher, Sean Manaea filled the slot of ‘Definitely Available’:
“Of the Mets’ stockpile of arms that maybe could be the No. 4 option in a playoff rotation, Manaea is both the most expensive and the one who fared worst in 2025. His luxury tax payroll hit is $22M, but that’s effectively $46.2M for the Mets, as a multiple-time tax offender blowing well past all of the tiers yet again.”
GettySean Manaea of the New York Mets – Game 3
Manaea is entering his 11th season in MLB and has been a durable starter for most of those seasons. After a tweak in his mechanics, Manaea had one of the best seasons in his career in 2024. He made 32 starts and posted a 3.47 ERA over 181.1 innings. However, he was limited to just 12 starts in 2025, and posted a more ugly 5.46 earned run average.
Injuries were involved, but that leads to the Mets being cautious of what his future contributions to their starting rotation will look like.
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Should the Mets Trade Sean Manaea?
If the Mets can find a suitor for Sean Manaea that would net them either another young starter or an outfielder, then trading Sean Manaea doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea.
The problem is he’s owed $17.25 million over the next two seasons, and if the Mets did trade Manaea, they might have to eat some of that contract to work a deal out.
Manaea has shown flashes of being a really good starter, but he’s also entering his age-34 season and is likely beyond his prime.
The Mets might not be able to get that much in return for him, but they should at least entertain the idea if they don’t see him being a prominent part of their 2026 rotation.
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Mets’ $75 Million Starter Tabbed As ‘Available’ Trade Candidate