The Mets took a major step toward resolving their outfield situation late Tuesday night when they acquired former All-Star center fielder Luis Robert Jr. from the Chicago White Sox. In return, they have sent young infielder Luisangel Acuna and pitching prospect Truman Pauley to the Southside of the Windy City.
New York had been linked with the 28-year-old since last summer, with the center field position being a glaring need since then. Jose Siri failed to make an impact in his lone season in Queens in a platoon with Tyrone Taylor after breaking his leg early in the campaign, and the acquisition of Cedric Mullins from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline failed to work out.
Mullins hit .182 with a .585 OPS, two home runs, and 10 RBI in 42 games with the Mets before hitting free agency and signing with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Robert’s bat is suspect despite its high upside. He has averaged 14 home runs and 44 RBI with a .660 OPS over his last two injury-plagued seasons, missing a combined 114 games.
The 28-year-old has played in more than 110 games during a single season just once, and it came in an All-Star 2023 campaign in which he slammed 38 home runs with 80 RBI and an .857 OPS in 145 games. That is the ceiling the Mets hope he can reach if he can put together a full season within a much deeper lineup than he has experienced in Chicago recently.
Offensive production aside, he is an elite defensive center fielder, which gives president of baseball operations David Stearns some flexibility moving forward. While he mentioned top prospect Carson Benge getting every opportunity to break camp with the big-league club this spring, Robert’s acquisition would allow the Mets to start him out in left field, which would ease his jump to the big leagues.
Robert’s range (outs above average) of 7 this past season ranked in MLB’s 93rd percentile, which finally fulfills Stearns’ desire to improve his team’s run prevention prospects.
It is unclear at this time if the Mets are still in on free-agent outfielder Cody Bellinger, who has reached an impasse with the crosstown rival Yankees after hitting 29 home runs with them last year. A void in left field was opened in November when they traded away long-time fan-favorite Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for Marcus Semien.
Acuna, once a top prospect with the organization acquired from the Rangers in the Max Scherzer trade, became expendable given the Mets’ glut of infielders. While Semien now inhabits second base, Bo Bichette was signed last week on a three-year, $126 million deal to play third base.
With Brett Baty currently higher on the depth chart to take on more of a utility infield role, Acuna was pushed out of the team’s plan.
The Mets are taking on all $20 million of Robert’s salary due this season. He has another $20 million club option in 2027 with a $2 million buyout.
