Good Morning
Well, it seems that Luis Robert Jr. is
finally a Met. The 28-year old was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Mets
for infielder Luisangel
Acuna and minor league starter, Truman Pauley.
It sure would be nice if
the Mets just acquired the 2023 version of Robert (4.9-WAR, 38-HR) rather than
the one that has produced, frankly, dismal numbers since then. How much of this
was dragged down from playing for a team that simply couldn’t win. A good sign
may be the .298/.352/.456
he produced in the last 126 plate appearances last season.
What the Mets do get is a
former Gold Glove winner who is considered one of the premier defensive
centerfielders in the game.
Oh. Did I mention his
history of being dinged up?
Cost? $20mil this
season, with a team option for 2027 ($2mil buyout)
When healthy and
motivated, Robert is a potential two-way star. He had a +11 FRV in 2023 and
last year in 865.2 innings, he had a +7 FRV.
Me?
The loss was minimal and
neither Acuna or Pauley would be considered a big loss. In addition, trading
Acuna relieves the Mets of one of the secondary infielders currently on the 40.
Past that, Mr. Robert is
going to have to prove to me this deal was worth it.
There are reports
floating in that the Mets are in the mix for the services of righthanded
starter, Freddy
Peralta.
Great stat line for the
Brewers last season: 5.5-WAR, 17-6, 2.70. Downside is he turns 30 in June and
is demanding a lengthy contract, far more than David Stearns would
want to offer.
Me?
He is under contract for
the 2026 season, so that means one must label him as a “rental” and nothing
more.
Cliff Floyd floated out there a
trade idea that would have the Mets sending three players to the Brewers, two
of which would be Brett Baty and Jonah Tong. Come on now…
you trade your current top trade bait (Baty), plus your top pitching prospect
not slated for Queens on opening day, for a one-year rental of Peralta? And
then what. Freddy moves on in 2027 and Tong is pitching in the all-star game
for Milwaukee?
Late yesterday, the San Diego Padres threw their hat
into the Peralta ring, stating publicly that they were looking for “a couple of
team-controlled starter prospects”. Hey, the Mets got plenty of them. Would an
offer of Brandon
Sproat and either Zach Thornton and Jack Wenninger get
this done?
Speaking of Jonah Tong…
None of you want to remember Tong’s major league debut
last season. Oh, there was one beautifully tossed start, but overall, the whole
remains nothing to write home about.
But let’s focus on what he DID accomplish last season
at the minor league level:
He played in the Futures Game
Was the EAS Pitcher of the Week twice
Was the EAS Pitcher of the Month twice
Was the EAS Pitcher of the Year
Was an EAS Post-Season All-Star
Was a Baseball America Minor League All-Star
Was a Baseball America Double-A All-Star
Was named to the MiLB Awards All-MiLB Prospect First
Team
Was the MiLB Awards Pitching Prospect of the Year
Was the Baseball America Minor League Pitcher of the
Year.
Produced a 2025 MiLB season stat line of:
10-5, 22 GS, 22 G, 1.43 ERA, 113.2 IP, .148 BAA, 179 SO
This is a trophy chase that guys like Doc Gooden and
Sandy
Koufax would be proud to have at similar points in their
career.
Forget 2025 Queens… this was Baseball’s top minor
league pitcher last season and the Mets need to remember this before
considering trading him away for anyone without the last names of Skubal or Skenes.
Another of the incoming DSL brats was signed on Monday.
Panama’s own, catcher Yadier Fuentes exchanged his John Hancock for a
check for $80,000 (handed to his agent to take his cut first).
Yes, another catcher, but there are two DSL Mets teams
and each of them needs two catchers, so there…
Reports are that he possesses a strong arm, controls a
game well, also has what they call “a bat with projection” with power on the
way.
Yeah, that’s what they all say…
Is Dylan Ross undervalued because he's a reliever?
How high is Dylan Ross’
ceiling? Feels like his future as a reliever has him being a bit undervalued on
prospect lists, but the stuff looks like it could potentially dominate major
league hitters given the chance - @aschorling34
Ross was called up by the
Mets during the last weekend of the 2025 season, but did not get into any of
the final three games against Miami.
The Mets selected Ross in
the 13th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of Georgia. He
underwent a Tommy John revision and did not make his professional debut until
Sept. 7, 2024, the next-to-last game of Low-A St. Lucie’s season.
In 2025, Ross pitched at
three minor league levels, spending most of his time with Triple-A Syracuse. In
a combined 54
innings, he posted a 2.17 ERA, allowing only 29 hits and striking out 80 batters.
His bugaboo was the 33 walks he issued.
While he will likely never
have plus command, there is thought in the organization that with more reps (he
has thrown just a combined 66.2 innings since 2022), the command should
improve.
Ross is a pure power
reliever, with a fastball that will sit at 97 mph and touch 101.
That isn’t his best pitch, though, as scouts will give the nod to his low-90s splitter that
minor league hitters could not touch, with a 48.3 percent whiff rate. He
supplements it with an upper-80s slider that he didn’t throw as much, but had
an even higher whiff rate of 67.7 percent.
If Ross can put some more
command together, I look at him as someone with high-leverage, setup type
potential. He should be squarely in the competition for one of the spots in the
Mets bullpen on Opening Day.
14 comments:
BB Ref has Robert at .240/.302/.425, with a HR every 24 times up for 2026. Elite defense. He stole 33 of 41 in 110 games last year. Mets likely are hoping that Roberts leaving last place hell will give him better #s than that. He hit just .190 in the first half last year, but about .300/.350/.460 in 31 second half games before he got hurt. No doubt Stearns hopes that he has a chance to return to being a very good overall player. They are paying all the money Roberts is still due.$20 million this year, club option for $20 million in 2027. They could have kept Tiny Acuna for 95% less $, but they think Robert is that much better. Pauley was a decent pitching prospect that is years away from the majors. He is 4 for 18, with a HR and 3 steals, at Citi Field. He should be much better than Tyrone Taylor. He is also just 28. Nimmo is 4 years, 4 months older.
I like the deal, even if not thrilled with it, due to his puzzling bat.
In his career, he has averaged 4 WAR per 162 games. Nimmo averaged 2.5 WAR the past two seasons.
A more powerful version of Juan Lagares.
Good Lagares comp
I look at this back-assed
Lost little
Not my money
I'm going to repost my comment from Reece's article...because I'm lazy.
.
Well, Gus finally got his wish.
Tom, if the best thing you can say about the trade is we gained 8 inches, then...yikes.
I know I have been a steady Robert basher, but they didn't give up too much so I'll say...meh. We needed an outfielder, he's an elite defender, so we can only hope for the best. They better get his arse down to the lab pronto.
As I've said often, I am a Met fan first, so I will root for him to turn his career around. Wouldn't it be great if a player on our team actually outperforms expectations.
I agree Mack, as long as Cohen doesn't mind spending money than it's worth a shot. They didn't give up anything that important.
Best case scenario, (oh I forgot he's a Met now) he plays closer to the 2023 version than the 2024 version. Maybe they can get him down to the lab and it helps.
At this point I would be satisfied with a .255/22/75 slash line.
Worst case scenario we have a very expensive 4/5 outfielder.
Now just go get some schlub to play LF until Benge is ready. Or send Baty down to Florida now to get some reps in LF.
Taylor to Left
Joe, you got him for free. Enjoy.
Mack, the thing about Tong is that he only has two pitches and the pitching angle doesn’t relate to horizontal break, but it is elite vertical break. I recall Angry Mike piece in Tong, but even Mike said he has two very elite pitches. Keep him to make him a closer?
Please now trade for St Louis Cardinal Jojo Romero and Red Sox SP Brayan Bello.
The Red Sox can use Brett Baty and we are able to get rid of him for Bello or even a Duran to man Leftfield?
Romeros lefty arm would be a very nice addition to our bullpen
Let's first see what he has been working on in the off-season
I'm starting to get 40 man dizzy
The most surprising thing this morning is seeing the expected lineup and seeing Robert at the bottom. Huh? And Semien batting fifth? Huh? I can understand Baty over Vientos at DH but Semien needs to be ninth and Robert needs to be fifth or sixth.
And, how can Stearns go after Bellinger if he said that Benge could claim a spot out of camp? Now, he need a Jeff McNeil type that can play everywhere and bats lefty but can be cup later.
Don't you hate autocorrect?
I hate when I'm cupped
I know I shoudn't say this but he can't be worst than Siri can he?
Hey Gus, the only saving grace in the trade is they didn't have up anything important for him. Being that its only money at this point I am willing to give it my blessing...lol.
He's a Met now so I will root hard for him to succeed.
Speaking of that utility role I think unless he is traded, Baty is pegged for that role. Get him to Florida and start working on left field. He will see time as DH/1B/2B/LF.
I think we need to keep him as insurance in case Bichette opts out after this year
Post a Comment