As a classic seller, the New York Mets were one of the busiest teams at Monday’s trade deadline. Here are five lingering day-after thoughts. All information is based on conversations with league sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak freely on the topics.
1. Luis Robert Jr.’s murky future
While center fielder Luis Robert Jr. created some conversations in the trade market, the money the Mets would’ve had to pay down didn’t make sense for the value of the prospects teams would have offered in return. So, essentially, there was no significant interest. Robert is owed $5.9 million for the rest of this season plus $2 million for a buyout on a team option for next year worth $20 million.
Perhaps if Juan Soto hadn’t sustained a calf injury that sidelined him a handful of weeks, Robert’s lack of playing would’ve changed the Mets’ calculus. With Soto out, the Mets can still play A.J. Ewing, Carson Benge and Robert in the outfield.
When Robert stays healthy, he sometimes demonstrates tantalizing potential. He was an All-Star in 2023, hitting 38 home runs and stealing 20 bases. The problem is Robert’s diminished availability and production since then because of injuries. Robert, who didn’t want to be traded from the Mets, owns a .610 OPS through just 138 plate appearances this season.
Last November, a couple of months before flipping him to the Mets, the Chicago White Sox exercised their $20 million option on Robert’s contract despite a .661 OPS and injuries limiting him to 431 plate appearances.
2. Mets highly value their catchers
Multiple teams said the Mets asked for a club’s top prospect plus more when they reached out about catcher Francisco Alvarez’s availability in a trade.
This high ask suggests the Mets did not have serious interest in trading their catchers.
Despite a market full of teams seriously in need of catching help, the Mets saw value in keeping Alvarez and defensive whiz Luis Torrens. It is hard to find catching. Alvarez is under club control through the 2029 season, and the Mets signed Torrens to a two-year extension a couple of months ago.
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3. A Clay Holmes extension never got started
The Mets never approached Clay Holmes about an in-season extension, league sources with knowledge of the situation said. Last month, Holmes told The Athletic that he held interest in such a deal.
Without an extension, the sensible move was trading Holmes, who attracted widespread interest across the league.
Holmes holds a $12 million player option for next season that he will almost certainly turn down for free agency. If they kept him, the Mets could’ve issued a qualifying offer (assuming he became a free agent), but the compensation pick would’ve been after the fourth round. Both parties ended up benefiting from the absence of a qualifying offer, at least.
Jefferson Rojas, the prospect they received from the Chicago Cubs for Holmes and Tyrone Taylor, projects as significantly better than a player chosen after the fourth round. Rojas, per MLB Pipeline, became the Mets’ best prospect.
4. Prospect evokes Ketel Marte
One evaluator from a rival club who is exceedingly familiar with the infielder called Rojas “as exciting as any hitting prospect in the game.”
When asked for a comparable big-league player, the evaluator said Rojas carries some resemblance to Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks, though the tools are a tick below the All-Star infielder.
Rojas, who is tough to strike out, makes a lot of contact, but he has also learned this year how to access more power. As the evaluator put it, “it’s just a super exciting profile and high floor with ceiling to go with it.”
In 390 plate appearances in Double A this season, Rojas owns a .270/.339/.461 slash line with 15 home runs and a 16.4 percent strikeout rate.
Defensively, however, it’s not known whether Rojas, 21, sticks at shortstop. Of the three positions he has played (shortstop, second base and third base), multiple evaluators said he looked most polished at third.
5. A glimpse into the offseason
After the trade deadline on Monday, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said New York explored the idea of acquiring players under club control. While the Mets engaged multiple teams on the topic, league sources said they never got particularly close on any such constructions.
The Toronto Blue Jays, another seller in the market, completed such a deal by acquiring starter José Soriano from the Los Angeles Angels. The Mets’ farm system did not contain a prospect like Arjun Nimmala, the headliner in the Soriano trade.
The Mets may revisit such talks in the offseason. Among the players available at the trade deadline under club control were the Seattle Mariners starting pitchers Emerson Hancock and George Kirby. While the free-agent market should include a batch of solid bullpen options, the Mets may have to get more creative for rotation help next season.
