After missing out on Kyle Tucker, the New York Mets have bolstered their outfield depth via trade, landing centre fielder Luis Robert Jr. from the Chicago White Sox.
Heading back the other way will be infielder Luisangel Acuna, and RHP Truman Pauley. Robert becomes another new face in Queens this season, joining Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Devin Williams, and Luke Weaver as first time Mets.
Chicago will retain no money in the deal, with New York set to absorb the entirety of Robert’s $20M deal this year. The club will then have a $20M option for 2027 or can buyout the final year of the contract for $2M. Because of their already high payroll (roughly $350M), Robert’s addition will push the team beyond the top threshold of the competitive balance tax. As such, they’ll incur a 110% penalty on any additional salary added.
Which version of Robert the club gets will largely determine the overall success or failure of the move. Back in 2023 the 28 year old slugged 38 home runs, and stole 20 bases. He was named to his first All-Star game, earned a Silver Slugger award, and finished 12th in MVP voting.
Since then however he’s struggled to replicate that kind of offensive firepower at the plate, hitting just .223 with 28 homers, and 88 RBIs total over the past two seasons combined. Part of that can be attributed to playing for rebuilding White Sox club, but the advanced analytics don’t paint much of a better picture either.
Nevertheless, with above outfield defence, and some speed along the base paths (56 stolen bases over his last 210 games played), Robert figures to serve as a replacement of sorts for Brandon Nimmo who was sent to Texas as part of the Semien deal.
New York will have to hope that Robert’s recent run of hamstring injuries are behind him, as soft tissue bumps and bruises have cost him dozens of games over the last two seasons. When healthy, he’ll be an impactful addition to their outfield who will likely benefit from being added to a more complete roster with the Mets.
For Chicago, they gain some assets and clear some additional money off the books for 2026. Acuna is the younger brother of Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr., and has had a breakout winter season in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball league. Pauley is a former 12th round pick out of Harvard, who made 3 starts for the Mets Low-A affiliate over his career.
Photo: D. Benjamin Miller. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.