Angels should act fast as Bo Bichette’s contract creates a Mets logjam

One of the remaining gaping holes on the Los Angeles Angels' roster may have a solution, thanks to the New York Mets' blockbuster signing of Bo Bichette. Bichette will play third base in the Big Apple, exacerbating an existing bottleneck that existed on their roster.

Specifically, the Mets have more third basemen than they know what to do with. That stands in stark contrast to the Angels, who have exactly zero third basemen on their big league roster. It's not hard to connect the dots to a trade.

Of these hot corner options, the one the Mets are most likely to move is 26-year-old Mark Vientos. New York shopped him at last year's trade deadline, and then made it be known back in December that the former top prospect was on the trade block again. Vientos might not be the perfect player, but the Halos don't need perfection. They need competence and the potential for more, and he can provide both of those things.

The Mets' Bo Bichette signing should have the Angels rushing to the phone to work out a trade for Mark Vientos

Vientos got his first extended run in 2023 and experienced some growing pains, slashing .211/.253/.367 with nine homers in 233 plate appearances. However, in 2024, the powerful right-handed bat broke out, hitting 266/.322/.516 with 27 homers in 111 games. Unfortunately, the youngster regressed in 2025 with a .702 OPS. Within those struggles were some signs of optimism, though.

First, the strikeout-prone hitter made some strides to clean up that part of his game. His 29.7% K-rate in 2024 was nearing the danger zone, but in 2025, he cut the punchouts to a more manageable 24.8%. While he struggled to replicate the impressive power showing of the previous year, Vientos still posted some strong underlying metrics.

His 50.5% hard hit rate was in the 89th percentile. He produced a 91.4 miles per hour average exit velocity, which fell in the 82nd percentile. Finally, he got his fair share of barrels, posting an 11.5% barrel rate, which was a 72nd percentile performance.

The biggest downside is his play in the field. Vientos is a poor defender and has been rumored to move to first base over the last couple of years. That's part of what makes him expendable. The Mets also have Brett Baty, a better defender with second base versatility, and a true utility man in Ronny Mauricio, both of whom can back up Bichette. However, the power and overall potential should be too much for Los Angeles to pass up. Vientos doesn't hit arbitration until next year and is under team control through 2029.

With Eugenio Suarez, who is a similar, but more developed player than Vientos, looking like a long shot, going for the younger version who can grow with the young core makes a lot of sense. On top of that, if the Angels insist on forcing Christian Moore onto the big league roster, it makes more sense to keep him at second, where he's more comfortable.

At this point in the winter, there aren't many perfect options left. A trade for Vientos is about as close to perfection as the Angels are going to get. With him getting blocked further by Bichette, a trade shouldn't be too expensive, either.