Trade Profile: Jeff McNeil, 2B/OF
Jeff McNeil
Position: 2B/OF B/T: L/R
Age: 33 (4/8/92)
2025 Traditional Stats: .243/.335/.411/.746, 12 HR, 54 RBI, 21 2B, 5 3B, 49 BB, 55 SO, 3 SB, 462 PA
2025 Advanced Stats: 111 wRC+, 11.9 SO%, 10.6 BB%, .327 xwOBA, 2.1 fWAR, 2.0 bWAR, 4 OAA at 2B, -2 OAA at OF, 2 FRV at 2B, -2 FRV at OF
Contract: $15.75 million in 2026, $2 million club buyout or $15.75 million in 2027
Rundown
Jeff McNeil put together a solid 2025, providing value with the bat and versatility in the field. The Mets went through several stretches where they didn’t hit with runners in scoring position as a team, but McNeil was 27-for-97 in that situation and posted an .840 OPS.
That OPS with runners in scoring position was better than that of Francisco Lindor (.741 OPS) and Juan Soto (.812). (For the record, the departed Pete Alonso (1.021) and Brandon Nimmo (.884) hit well with RISP in 2025. Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco posted respective marks of .710 and .980.)
McNeil played center field, making 28 starts there after making just two in his previous seven years. He also started five games in left and two in right and was negative-2 outs above average in the outfield, per Statcast. My eye test found him passable in the outfield and he looked like his typical sure-handed self in 69 starts at second base.
His season may have been better if it wasn’t bookended by injuries. He started the year on the injured list with an oblique strain (he debuted on April 25) and ended it playing through neck and shoulder pain that led to a procedure to treat thoracic outlet syndrome after the season.
McNeil went 14-for-75 in September, slashing .187/.274/.240 without a home run. The last of his dozen homers came on Aug. 23, and his agent, Garrett Parcell, told the New York Post’s Joel Sherman on Nov. 13 that McNeil felt pain in his swing in September.
He is expected to be ready for spring training.
Buzz
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the Athletics could be interested in trading for McNeil and playing him at second base. The Athletics may also be looking at Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last month that the Mets were fielding offers on McNeil and that the Pirates and Mariners were among the clubs interested.
Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN put the odds of McNeil being dealt at 80 percent in an article posted on Dec. 2, which was after the Mets acquired Semien and before Alonso went to Baltimore.
Tim Healey of the Boston Globe reported the Mets were considering McNeil as part of a first-base platoon, but that was before the Mets acquired Polanco. McNeil hit .245 vs. righties last year and .236 vs. lefties. He is a career .284 hitter vs. righties and .282 vs. lefties.
Recommendation: Trade
Moving on from homegrown players seems to be the offseason theme. McNeil was drafted by the Mets in the 12th round of the 2013 draft out of Cal State Long Beach and debuted in 2018. He is a two-time All-Star, the 2022 batting champ, and won a Silver Slugger.
I don’t think McNeil would bring back much of a return alone, and the Mets will likely have to eat some of his salary to make a deal, especially if it’s with a team like the Athletics or Pirates. But if packaged with, say, Kodai Senga, maybe the Mets could get someone to send back a quality player. I’d love to move him for a starting pitcher.
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