For the New York Mets, the big benefit to acquiring Marcus Semien was taking a large step towards achieving one of the offseason's biggest missions — improving the club's run prevention skills.
Once upon a time, Semien was a potent bat, clubbing a career-high 45 homers in 2021 with the Toronto Blue Jays. While he can still run into the occasional long ball, Semien's overall offensive performance has diminished with age. His 128 wRC+ in 2023 gave way to a pedestrian 101 mark in 2024, and then a below-average 89 wRC+ in 2025.
This might have been okay when the trade first went down, and there was hope that the Mets would supplement Semien with another big move, but now, with Pete Alonso defecting and Jorge Polanco taking his place, the club will need more out of Semien.