The long-awaited Luis Robert Jr. trade has arrived. The Mets announced they’ve acquired the former All-Star center fielder from the White Sox for young infielder/outfielder Luisangel Acuña and minor league right-hander Truman Pauley. There’s no cash involved and no corresponding moves because Robert and Acuña were each on the 40-man roster.
This brings an end to what had been years of Robert trade rumors. The White Sox have held their center fielder through multiple rebuilding seasons. In retrospect, they surely wish they’d moved him over the 2023-24 offseason. Robert was coming off a career year and looked like a budding star entering the prime of his career. The past two seasons have been more challenging, as he has battled injuries and struggled while fielding questions about when he would be traded.
Robert was a high-profile prospect when he signed with the Sox out of Cuba in 2017. He commanded a $26MM bonus, the kind of hefty sum for an international amateur that would subsequently be prohibited in the collective bargaining agreement. Robert’s dominant minor league performance further spurred optimism, and the White Sox signed him to a $50MM extension over the 2019-20 offseason. At the time, it was the largest extension for a player who had to make his MLB debut, and it ensured he’d break camp in 2020 without any kind of service time games.
While that year’s schedule would be shortened by the pandemic, Robert popped 11 homers and won a Gold Glove in center field. He placed second in Rookie of the Year balloting. Robert’s numbers jumped in year two, as he hit .338/.378/.567 across 296 plate appearances. A torn flexor tendon in his right hip cost him three months, however, and the blend of tantalizing talent and frustrating durability would be a recurring theme in his career.
Robert had a trio of injured list stints, albeit all for minor issues, the following season. He stayed healthy for almost all of the ’23 campaign and showed the star-level ceiling he possesses at full strength. Robert drilled 38 homers, 36 doubles and one triple across 595 plate appearances. He hit .264/.315/.542 to win a Silver Slugger Award. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each valued his season around five wins above replacement after accounting for his excellent center field defense.
The White Sox nevertheless went 61-101 and were outscored by 200 runs. It was clear they were amidst a multi-year teardown, but they elected to hang onto Robert when they had four years of affordable contractual control. They could have netted multiple top prospects if they’d shopped him.
Robert’s production has tanked as the team has slogged through two more terrible seasons. He’s a .223/.288/.372 hitter in 856 plate appearances since the start of 2024. He has struck out at a near-30% rate while continuing to battle injuries. The right hip flared up early in the ’24 season and kept him out for two months. A pair of left hamstring strains were the culprit last summer, with the latter costing him all of September.
The physical tools remain encouraging. Robert is one of the fastest players in the league despite the various lower body injuries. He ranks in the 92nd percentile in bat speed, according to Statcast. He’s an aggressive hitter who is always going to have his share of strikeouts. Teams would happily live with a lower on-base percentage if he’s making the kind of power and defensive impact he did during his best days in Chicago.
It’s largely a change-of-scenery bet from the Mets’ perspective. Robert only turned 28 in August and hasn’t shown signs of physical decline. He has spent the past three seasons on one of the worst teams in MLB, fully aware that he’d be traded at some point. A new environment could help him get back on track, although the durability concerns will persist even if his numbers improve.
Robert will at least upgrade the defense and bring some upside on the bases. He has stolen 20+ bags in three straight seasons and went 33-41 in stolen base attempts last year. He should also bring some juice against left-handed pitching, as he’s a career .293/.367/.505 hitter with the platoon advantage. His production against southpaws tanked in 2024 but rebounded last season.
The biggest risk for the Mets is financial. They’re assuming the entirety of Robert’s $20MM salary and committing to a $2MM buyout on a $20MM club option for the 2027 season. It’s not a small amount to spend on a player who hasn’t produced much over the past two years, and that’s before considering the tax implications.
The Mets pay a 110% tax on spending as a three-time repeat luxury tax payor whose CBT payroll is above $304MM. Robert is guaranteed $22MM for one season — the option buyout is guaranteed money — so they’re tagged with a $24.2MM tax hit. It’s a $46.2MM commitment overall, albeit one that comes with the upside of what could be a bargain option in ’27 if Robert hits his ceiling. RosterResource calculate their CBT number around $357MM, putting them on track to exceed last year’s season-ending $347MM mark — which required a $91.6MM tax payment. There’s a good chance they’ll have a tax bill north of $100MM by the end of the ’26 season.
They’ve taken on $64MM in AAV commitments for the 2026 season between the Robert trade and Bo Bichette signing over the past five days. The Mets haven’t wanted to lock themselves into lengthy deals one offseason after the Juan Soto signing. They’ve compensated with significant short-term investments to chase upside. Robert should be the everyday center fielder as long as he’s healthy. That’d push Tyrone Taylor either into a fourth outfield role or as a stopgap in left field if prospects Carson Benge and Jett Williams open the season in Triple-A. It seems likely to take them out of the running on Cody Bellinger, the top unsigned position player.
Although the White Sox missed their opportunity to trade Robert at the apex of his value, they deserve some credit for exercising this year’s option rather than cutting him loose for nothing in free agency. That at least netted them an intriguing depth piece in Acuña, who felt superfluous on the Mets but is a fine target for a rebuilding team.
The younger brother of Ronald Acuña Jr., Luisangel is a former Rangers signee whom the Mets acquired in the 2023 Max Scherzer deadline deal. His bloodlines and previous inclusion in one marquee trade have made him a more well-known prospect than his production probably warrants, but he’s not yet 24 and provides some multi-positional utility for skipper Will Venable.
Acuña signed as a shortstop and has the arm strength to profile on the left side of the infield. There weren’t many shortstop reps available on a team with Francisco Lindor, leading the Mets to bounce him around in a utility capacity. Acuña has plus-plus speed and could be an option in center field as well. He’s splitting his time between shortstop and center field in the Venezuelan winter league, but the majority of his MLB experience has come as a second baseman.
The White Sox shouldn’t have any issue getting Acuña in the lineup even if he’s not expected to push Colson Montgomery off shortstop. He could step into the everyday center field role vacated by the Robert trade or push for second/third base playing time alongside Chase Meidroth, Miguel Vargas and Lenyn Sosa.
The question is whether Acuña will bring enough to the table offensively to warrant playing time once the Sox are better positioned to contend. He’s a .248/.299/.341 hitter in his first 233 MLB plate appearances. Acuña has had a similarly light bat against Triple-A pitching. The right-handed hitter owns a .265/.307/.360 line in more than 700 trips to the plate at the top minor league level. Acuña has solid contact skills but puts a lot of balls on the ground without big exit velocities. He’s a slash-and-dash type hitter whose best current ability is as a runner, where he went 16-17 in stolen base tries over 95 MLB games last year.
Acuña is out of minor league options, so the White Sox will need to keep him on the MLB roster. They wouldn’t have traded Robert for him if they didn’t intend to do so. The lack of roster flexibility was a much bigger hangup for the Mets, who also cannot option Mark Vientos and are unlikely to send Brett Baty back to Triple-A. They knew they’d lose Acuña on waivers but weren’t positioned to offer him the playing time to take a step forward offensively. Chicago can control him through the 2031 season, as Acuña has yet to reach a year of MLB service.
The White Sox also add a low minors arm in Pauley, a 6’2″ righty whom the Mets took in the 12th round of last year’s draft. The Harvard product received an above-slot $400K signing bonus. Baseball America ranked him the #435 prospect in the draft, writing in June that teams like the riding life on his mid-90s fastball and plus spin rates on his breaking ball. Pauley walked more than 15% of opponents with a 4.61 ERA in his draft year. His command will need to take a significant leap if he’s to get to the majors, even as a reliever, but the Sox’s player development team is clearly intrigued by his raw stuff.
From a payroll standpoint, dealing Robert drops Chicago’s projected spending to $67MM. They opened last season around $81MM, so this could free them up for a late-offseason depth addition or two. The Sox could bring in a veteran middle reliever and/or a fourth outfielder whom they’d try to flip for another lottery ticket prospect in the Pauley mold at the deadline.
Jeff Passan of ESPN was first on the trade terms. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that the Mets were assuming the full salary. Respective images courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Jay Biggerstaff of Imagn Images.
No Belli.
“Oh wait… I thought his first name was Ronald??”
“No. That’s his brother. But he hit 4 HR’s in a game last week….”
“Oh, OK. Deal on.”
Yes, this tells me Belli isn’t goin to the Mutts!
SNY just reported that this doesn’t mean they are out on Belli.
They definitely are. This puts them close to 380, and they still need pitching.
@iamhector24-Robert J.R is their Belli! Thank you SNY.
Yeah Framber, and a traded for and extended Peralta. Belli isn’t a true need for the Mutts with Robert in the fold.
99Captain, with Cohen’s money, it suggests to me that Belli still can’t be ruled out. #1. Bellinger can be the first baseman should Robert stay healthy and productive (with Polanco DHing) and #2. what are the odds that Robert doesn’t end up on the IL?
dewey- I hear you, the Mutts have $ so no one is arguing with you. They need to sign Framber, and trade for Peralta. Thinking there is no room for Belli now. You probably can’t rule it out, like you are saying though. I would definitely be stoked and in shock if Belli becomes a Mutt though. We’ll see what happens. Lol
Captain, Cohen’s ego is what I think is driving him and he’s been taking a beating online and on the radio. This trade makes no sense given the money implications. Robert will probably be on the IL when spring trading opens.
99Captain Judge99:
That’s overkill. The Mets don’t need two top of the starting rotation pitchers. People are overreacting too much to the way their pitchers collapse in the second half but that was more coincidence. As poorly as they pitched in the second half was as dominant as they were in the first half. The truth lies somewhere in between. Those guys all have track records with varying degrees of success. Plus they have McLean now for a full season. And whatever pitchers they don’t trade in the minor leagues who look ready.
deweybelongsinthehall:
The money implications? Why would anyone care about that? If they give up a good prospect, you would say they panicked and the trade makes no sense. He took on salary, which doesn’t mean anything. Oh no, a bigger luxury tax bill! Who cares? And it’s a short-term deal too.
Mike, it’s still money for a player that can’t remain productive on the field. Cohen has no issue over paying for 26 for Bichette and others but I don’t expect Cohen likes paying for nothing.
deweybelongsinthehall:
But that money only matters if an owner is not willing to spend money because of that. Steve Cohen is obviously willing to spend so I don’t think the $20 million they spend on Robert stops them from doing anything else. And when you say paying for nothing, you’re being kind of hyperbolic. He’s not a nothing player. Don’t discount the value of an above average defensive centerfielder with speed and some power. It’s basically a one year deal for $20 million. Not really a big deal.
One year deal for $46 million when you include penalties and buyout for next year.
St.Philly:
Are we all chipping in? If not, who cares? This is Steve Cohen‘s money and he obviously doesn’t care. Why should we?
I’m saying what Cohen is really paying
St.Philly:
I get it. I just think it doesn’t really matter unless it prevents them from doing other things and I don’t think it will. Billionaires can spend whatever they want. Fine by me.
It does prevent them from doing other things. Luxury tax penalties impact more than just money.
VonPurpleHayes:
They can afford to lose a few draft picks. You can always trade for more international bonus money. I don’t see where they’ve been limited.
Don’t worry the stanks are still losing Belli
lol whoops
Oops, guess not, kid. Try harder next time.
With Nimmo gone Soto is only Mets outfielder I know. They got a glove guy. Got some infielders they need to play somewhere. Maybe I am missing someone I don’t follow them. But you need 4 outfielders so sure they can find room for Belli who can also play 1b. Maybe now they don’t need him unless the price is right.
They spent the winter trying to correct the club house culture, and then they bring in this prima donna.
Nah, they have Soto RF, Robert CF, upcoming prospects Jett Williams or Carson Benge in LF, Taylor as back up. Personally if the rookies don’t pan out, i would give Baty or Mauricio an opportunity out there in LF and have Vientos DH / 1B. But we pretty much filled up position spots if one of the two rookies stay up. Unless one of the 3 infielders get traded, Mets are pretty much set.
AI GM:
Not sure how well you know the Mets minor league system, but they have two prospects in Jett Williams and Carson Benge, who should be ready to play outfield this season as well
And possibly passibly Clifford.
Luis Robert is not a prima donna. Where did you get that idea? He has always been a good clubhouse guy.
stymeedone:
Based on what is he a prima donna? Sounds like something you made up.
Clubhouse culture gets overrated by fans and media. Proof ? Read Sparky Lyle’s book The Bronx Zoo.
Clifford will fit better at 1B.
Prospects are prospects. If you want to invest 400 million and risk making playoffs because of prospects that’s a bold move. Injuries likely happen even more so with Robert so you need Prospects for depth. You lose a year starting them from day one or risk them winning ROY if they are actually good. Spending that $ and rolling the dice on prospects seems stupid to me. It’s a long season and you need lots of depth.
AI GM:
No matter how much you invest in a team, you have to start relying on some of your younger players. I can see them adding like an Austin Hays type, but they don’t need to go any crazier than that.
With Bellinger off the table they can go with prospects. If they trade one for Peralta or someone they probably should sign someone. Unless Baty Vientos can play a solid outfield.
Judgey, I said in the Bichette thread last night right before i went to bed that, too me, Bo’s presser being today gave me the feeling Bellinger isn’t going there otherwise you’d wait to have a double.
This sort of cements it. Though hey we could be wrong, but Roberts is going to cost them 20 million this year and they still need to add a SP probably.
@Sal- I agree with all your comments here 100%.
Salzilla:
Agreed. I don’t think Bellinger makes sense for the Mets at this point. It’s not really a necessity. Doesn’t seem like his market is hot outside the Yankees, but there’s always the chance of a team doing things quietly behind the scenes, but I think that stuff would leak out to heat up his market if that were the case. He seems destined to go back to the Yankees.
99Captain Judge99:
Yankees can keep Bellinger. I keep saying, whoever signs him is going to have a nice bust on their hands.
@Miken31: “… is going to have a nice bust on their hands”
Since when is that a bad thing?
@Miken31- Belli or bust for Yankees. Let’s face it these guys definitely get hurt regardless. Belli’s swing is tailored for Yankee Stadium. Goin to the Mutts doesn’t really help his #’s either. Belli truly wants to be a Yankee, unlike that fatso Soto.
On your hands might be too heavy but always in them…
Miken trolling the Yanks is nothing new. Bellinger is both very good and good for the team, no doubt. Anything else is just troll talk. That said, until the ink is dry, I don’t think Belli cares more about the team than getting what is best for him. If he wanted to solely be a Yank, that deal is aces. So let’s see how it goes.
SteveC:
😂😂😂
99Captain Judge99:
I agree the best place for Bellinger to be is on the Skankees. He had extreme home road splits last year and his swing does seem made for Yankee Stadium. Not a great player but a good player in that situation. But yeah, I’ll keep Soto. You can have Bellinger.
Salzilla:
Telling the Yankees? Bellinger’s hard hit rate was terrible last year. His home road splits were beyond extreme. He’s a guy who’s often had mediocre seasons after good ones. Sometimes bad seasons. Everything I said is objective…tell me what I said that’s wrong?
Salzilla:
*Trolling
Fatso led the league in SB.
He’s going to you guys anyways. I doubt nobody is offering what the Yankees are offering and they are not budging and waiting for Bellinger to see that.
@VonPurpleHayes
Looks like it’s the Jays and Yankees left.
And possibly the Giants if they’ve been following this opportunistically…
The Giants have been my pick for Bellinger for about a month as their annual big surprise signing that they love to do, but he really has priced himself into a corner to where that’s not going to be easy for them to justify
The Giants are a good shout tbh because of their history of dealing with Boras.
Buster is anti opt out and they aren’t going long. Cant see it.
And the Dodgers…
Sox didnt pick up anything for Robert. Now the Mets should give him a 3 year deal to buy low on him.
The Sox won this trade in a steal. Would have taken Acuna 1 for 1 with the Mets picking up the money. The other guy is a bonus even if he’s had 3 TJ surgeries.
This trade is a White Sox downpayment for Ronald Acuña Jr. who will be in their OF come opening day of 2029. By then the White Sox will have already been the Al Central champs and acquiring Acuña Jr. will help elevate them to championship contenders. That along with all the financial might new majority owner Justin Ishbia will begin utilizing for his team that will eventually include a new White Sox stadium in Arlington Park. 🙂
Having grown up near Arlington Park like the cut of your story
@Unclemike: Mets gave up almost literally nothing of value. How is this a ‘steal’ for the Sox? Acuna can’t hit.
Neither can Robert, he sucks.
I thought the White Sox had such a high price tag on Roberts. This looks more like a salary dump deal.
I don’t it’s a steal, but it’s a decent return for shedding his entire salary.
@stymeedone: LRJ option pickup was Reinsdorf’s sad way to show he was spending. Once they surprisingly got Murakama on a 2yr roll of the dice deal, things changed.
Getz no doubt got orders from him to prioritize salary dumping rather than holding out for slightly better second tier prospects.
Unclemike1526:
I think both teams have a chance to win the trade. Acuna is nothing special though. Very little power. Not much of a hitter. Don’t be too excited about him. But if he can be an average every day player, that’s still good value. He’s a good defensive play player. I’m pretty sure the Mets have been dangling this deal to the White Sox since the trade deadline and they couldn’t get anything better.
bkluger:
Robert has some power. And he plays defense at a premium position. I don’t think Acuns is an everyday shortstop, but could be an everyday second baseman. But his ceiling is clearly lower than Robert.
Chicago management couldn’t bear with the idea of trading Roberts without a big haul until they decided they couldn’t bear paying his salary. Still, the trade could work out for both teams and for Roberts. A good season, not great but good, could put Roberts in a Bellinger arc
Put it on the board, Yes!
But Robert has upside Acuna cannot sniff. At his worst, Robert = Acuna in CF. Mets taking a chance the power is productive .
He’ll be on the IL by Income Tax day. Sox win.
Unclemike1526:
How do the Sox with the mediocre players they got back?
They got rid of Robert. Addition by subtraction. If they sign Giolito with the money they saved it’s Giolito, Acuna and the other guy. Total win! That’s how.
Reported to be still in on Cody
There are 2 trains of thought on this. the first one, yours, is that the payroll situation means something, and they aren’t going to want to go any higher. The second is that they are anticipating a long work stoppage, and they’ll go after Bellinger to make a run in what may be the last full year of baseball for a while. I tend to be in the 2nd camp because of the Bichette contract.But we’ll see.
..I mean that’s cool I guess
Yeah. So all of you that doubted the Sox wouldn’t get a haul for Robert can go eat crow! They got Acuna! Lol
As usual, the Sox and JR are a joke.
I think they did great, picking up the option on Robert and landing a great player in Acuna. He immediately becomes the White Sox most exciting player if you ask me.
I am a little concerned about losing ABs for Baldwin who I also like a lot. I would like to see Acuna in at SS with Colson Montgomery moving to 1B.
Vargas at 3B. Meidroth at 2B.
It leaves the White Sox without a legitimate CF until Braden Montgomery is called up but Baldwin and Kelenic can hold down the OF with Hill and Periera on the bench and Lenyn as our Utility IF.
A Benintendi trade is certainly out there and I am all for getting Bonemer, Antonacci and Zavala a look in the bigs this season, all three have been taking reps in the OF and one of them could land a starting job sooner than later.
Acuna is NOT a great player. At best, he’s a utility infielder who can steal bases. He is useless with the bat.
He is only 24. I think he can be a plus defender in the INF and he can fly. He can poke the ball out of the yard too. He may not be a great player yet but he is a great prospect, a top 50 if he still had prospect status.
Im excited for Acuna, great trade bringing another high profile player to the Sox this season. If they both play up to the hype, it will be a fun season.
Chasefor28nyy:
He was a top hundred prospect, but he fell off the list while he was still eligible. He’s no longer considered in that level.
I think you might be confusing Acuna with a different player. He hasn’t hit at all in AA or AAA the last two years and hasn’t been considered a relevant prospect, let alone a top one, in quite some time. At best he projects as your typical fast guy/decent glove/zero bat that you see on the back end of a 40 man roster.
He’s also out of options, so the most likely scenario is that he doesn’t last the season in Chicago before being exposed to waivers
If by “exciting” you mean watching Acuna regularly hammer the ball into the ground and getting thrown out by 10′, then you’re going to get a lot of excitement in 2026.
What the eff
Acuna has been great in winter ball. This is an overpay.
I am laughing hard at you. “He was good in winterball” is about the funniest thing I have read in a while.
Hector don’t be a disrespecter!!
Hector wasnt there
The quality of winter ball pitching is somewhere between a good, but not great high school team and the lowest level of DIII college
@horaceallen: He was great in winter ball last year, too. Then he couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat during the regular season. He’s a weak-hitting utility infielder. This is a salary dump by the White Sox and roster clearing of a crowded infield by the Mets.
i think acuna still has a slim chance of putting it all together; but i agree it all together is .260 with 25sb and being a replacement level fielder at several positions. The profile has value, but this really was about finding one of the few teams still willing to take the full freight on Robert and give up anything that can be spun. Acuna is the exact type of guy i expected Robert to be traded for- post hype guy who the sox can hype as worth more than anyone in the deal actually thinks he is worth. I actually guessed a trade to the Os for Mayo or Kjedstad for the same reason (former top 50 prospects that need a change of scenery)
An overpay by the White Sox
Acuna still has a better wRC+ the past two years lol
Sure but DWL is AA/AAA level. This costs Mets only money.
It’s clearly not an overpay because Acuna has no place to play on the Mets. You only have so many spots and no how good someone is at winter ball, he is not going to be sending an eight figure player to the bench anytime soon.
Winterball is really saying something though. I mean, who plays baseball in the winter time anyways? It’s got to be harder: blizzards, gusting winds, etc Hard enough to play solid baseball in the summer. Gotta tip your cap.
Those Venezuala winters are legendary.
Hit .887 ops off Frosty and Rufolf. Respect!!!
They make you hit with a snow shovel!
Any thoughts on Baty? I see this line up slotting him in now as a DH.
I see that as a waste of potential for Baty’s sake.
Yes, especially this winter with all machine gun fire and explosions.
He’s playing CF in winterball.
vandilioff:
Baty is going to be the McNeil type this season, if he doesn’t get traded. He’ll play third base, some second base, some left field maybe, maybe even some first base.
Acuna had a ops+ of 66 last year. He has no power, doesn’t make contact enough and is a glove first guy.
But sure, the Mets got had.
So was my sister.
Nice!
Not bad getting Acuna out of that.
Acuna’s pretty much a bust. Excellent defender but he’s really never hit much.
Probably way better than what the White Sox would have gotten out of Robert and whoever was supposed to be their 2B before the trade.
Their primary 2nd baseman had a team high 22 homers last year. He also led the team in RBIs. Robert had a team high 33 steals.
They have a former top prospect they got in the Crochet trade as their 2B and he had a solid rookie year (Chase Meidroth). I doubt Acuna has as high a ceiling. Lenyn Sosa might even be better than Acuna.
@kevnames42
Meidroth was never a top prospect. He was drafted in the 4th rd, but only because he agreed to an extremely under slot number. At one point he did make it up to as high as 8th in the Red Sox system, but I was happy for him when he got traded because he had no chance of sniffing the big leagues with the Red Sox as they thought that lowly of him (he has absolutely no power and a very weak arm). Still a fun guy to follow and I hope he continues to succeed.
i agree he is not going to get playing time on a contender who can likely sign a more productive 2b for that 5-8m range….. but there is enough there for him to start for the rest of the league and maybe carve out a role as a utility guy if he gets enough of an audition.
The White Sox must think he can play in the outfield full time to make this move 1st off. When you look at the roster. You have Sosa who plays 2nd, 1st and 3rd. Chase plays 2nd, short and 3rd. Colson plays primary short with a little 3rd. Vargas plays 3rd and 1st and now the Mune at 1st. That’s 5 guys for 4 positions. Plus Brooks Baldwin who an infielder that has already transition to the outfield and probably looking at being the everyday RF. Then there is currently 3 catchers on your roster to fill 2 spots. I have a feeling we are going to see a trade of Sosa and Quero or Lee for an outfielder to be a stop gap until Braden Montgomery is ready.
If JR wasn’t the cheapest owner they could have covered half his salary and gotten some real players to help the team. That was the entire hope and plan for picking up his option.
This long dance with the trading of LRJr, I wonder who else during this time was offered for him? The return looks very mediocre at best. Now there is a hole in CF and RF. I believe Baldwin will get the RF slot (until Braden Montgomery is ready). Acuna looks to be a utility player off the bench with good to excellent speed.
Could Braden Montgomery still play CF? Don’t know yet.
Is this a win for Getz or did he just miss with this trade?
Sort of like that guy they had over in Chicago. Robert I think?
Robert or Bob. Can’t recall. Ask Siri.
Nobody’s a bust at age 24
They are if not on a roster.
He’s a bust at 23yrs old with just over 200 ML plate appearances? Maybe he will be a bust but that’s far from being determined
No bust. Performing so far exactly as the experts projected.
Luisangel is a utility who plays solid D and is a useful pinch-runner with a small paycheck. That’s not a “bust”, just a limited upside. He was never going to be his brother.
Gotta be careful writing off a player that young.
Acuna has definitely lost some of his luster and he was never going to be his brother, but this is a great get by the Sox. He could turn into a guy who attends some all-star games and gets some down ballot MVP votes in his best years.
A lot of us thought it was silly to pick up his 20m option. Turning Roberts into a potential piece and a recent top 100 prospect is a nice outcome.
padrepapi:
You should’ve stopped at “gotta be careful writing off a player that young.” That’s a fair statement. Everything else you said is hyperbole. Attending All-Star games? Maybe if he buys a ticket. Down ballot MVP votes? He doesn’t seem to have that potential. Anything is possible, but my hope for him would be an average every day player offensively who plays plus defense. That would be a huge get if the White Sox get that.
Acuna is 23 and has a .282/.350/.400 slash in the minors averaging about 60 sb per 162.
Since he only has 200 PA’S in the majors it would hardly turn out to be some shocking outcome if he made an all star game or two and saw his name appear appear down ballot i.e. 20th) on some MVP ballots. They gave him a 50 hit tool, 60 Run, 55 Arm, 60 Field a year ago. 200 PA’S shouldn’t change much.
He was definitely expendable by the Mets adding 3 vet infielders each on multi year deals this off-season. It will be interesting to compare Acuna to Semien over these next three years as Semien will be 34 and has seen his OPS+ drop from 126, 103 & 97 these past three seasons.
padrepapi:
But most of those minor leagues statistics you cite for Acuna are from earlier in his career at the lower levels when he was still considered a legitimate prospect. The higher he went up to chain he struggled. He did not play well in AAA. Nothing is shocking but there’s nothing to predict an All-Star game or anything near that in Acuna’s future. Again, if he can be a league average offensive player with above average defense, the White Sox have him under control for six years and that’s more than enough to ask for. Regardless of what Simien does, the Mets have plenty of guys on the major league and minor league rosters who can take over a second base. It’s not like Acuna was really considered the second baseman of the future. He was more of a spare part at this point.
He hasn’t hit at all in the upper minors over multiple years now, and because of that hasn’t been a prospect for a long time now.
If everything goes right for him he could be a decent depth guy that you can bring up from the minors for a few weeks, but I audibly laughed at “down ballot MVP votes”. Maybe MVP votes in Japan
So basically a cheaper Robert…This isn’t the Luis Robert of 2021, the guy sucks now
bkluger:
He can still play a good defensive centerfield, has speed, has some power. The guy they traded him for in Acuna pretty much sucks at this point too, so no problem there.
U just described Roberts Jr, only he has a longer track record
Mets basically turned Scherzer into Robert, yeah? Fair enough trade I think.
Not bad for the Sox Acuna broke out in winter ball this year he’s going to be good.
Hahahaha! He broke out on in winter ball? I think some of the guys on my D-III team from 20 years ago could hit in winter ball.
It’s not a bad indicator to look at especially for him just in terms of actually hitting for power sure the pitching is easier but the upward power trend from even last winter shows he might be developing something more with the bat.
I’d argue that it’s not a bad indicator, but a horrible indicator. Not only is this a lower level of competition, but a season that consists of only 56 games. Last year, the Leones del Caracas led the league in home runs, and their team leader in homers was Harold Castro with 15, one less than he has hit in 450 MLB games. Currently, the best team ERA are the Navegantes del Magallanes, with their ERA leader being Bryan Mata, who has a 4.98 ERA in 128.1 career innings at Triple-A.
@Slightly: “It’s not a bad indicator to look at especially for him just in terms of actually hitting ”
Acuna’s OPS in winter ball right now is .939. His OPS last season in winter ball was .914. He went on to have a .567 OPS in the majors. Winter ball means nothing.
@rct: Winter ball is a data point, which is more useful than no data point at all, no?
don’t tell me those, im projecting big Phillies seasons for Johan Rojas and Bryan DelaCruz based on their winter league stats
@Met Me: Maybe barely? But guys who rake in winter ball routinely can’t hit in the majors, and guys who struggle there can do well in the majors. It’s mostly for guys to keep in shape and maybe work on a thing or two. Not really indicative of future performance.
Gotcha. Guess it comes down to weighting the data appropriately, even if it’s just, “good to see the player working on things/fitness.” Would still want that info than none at all.
He hasn’t been great in the minors but he hit 8 home runs in 39 games in winter ball which is only 4 shy of the most he’s ever hit in a full minor league season so I really feel like the power might be coming along now. Not to mention it will only be his age 24 season next year.
Slightly optimistic twins fan:
No reason not to feel optimistic. But you really can’t believe anything you see in winter ball.
It’s only the Venezuelan Winter League. Alexi Amarista is batting .344 with a .874 OPS right now.
I was going to say Alex Canario had a .955 OPS in winter ball last year. Not a bad thing to see but you shouldn’t be looking at it with the hope it’s going to translate.
@Slightly: You’re the second person to cite Acuña’s winter ball numbers. He had great winter ball numbers last year and everyone said he was going to break out. Then he was terrible at hitting during the actual season. I can’t believe we’re overreacting to winter ball numbers.
White Sox fans will have something to look forward to this spring and summer. Winter is coming! Soon Acuna will hit some bombs!
Strictly a salary dump for the Sox, it appears. If it wasn’t they would have had to get back a much better package than this for Robert.
Strictly in terms of Luises we’re breaking even
I was bummed out til u told me about his winter ball breakout. Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright. No trophy no cry.
Sox have their Leury Garcia replacement
Weren’t they saying similar things about that nobody Tatis the Pods got from the White Sox for Big Game Shields. Related to some mlb-er. Wonder what ever happened to that Tatis guy. Ask Siri
The White Sox were the ones that traded Tatis. They were not the ones who acquired him. That example didn’t help your argument.
Can u even read? He said the padres obtained Tatis.
Tatis was already a super buzzy 18 year old prospect. At that time he was about what Jesus Made is right now (not saying Made will be that good, but that young and buzzy)
Dumpster Divin Theo:
What does one trade have to do with the other? Nothing except the White Sox were involved in both of them. These players don’t compare.
You guys realize that winter ball has no predictive value right? It’s like semi-pro level and lower than the lowest level of the minor leagues
I think the Sox did alright here all things considered.
Well…. this sucks
Not really, except that they’re off the hook for his salary.
More than alright they did fantastic.
They got 2 prospects for a bad, overpaid player. Robert sucks and has sucked for 2 years now. Strikes out too much, hasn’t shown an ability to adjust at the plate. He is a nice glove with a bit of speed, but those guys are a dime a dozen
A lot of players made some pretty serious $ being dime a dozen players then.
They’re off the hook for a salary on an option that they could have declined heading into the offseason. I guess this is a win but it’s a very small one.
I honestly do, too. There’s a lot of naysayers here, but I think Luisangel can turn into something. The VWL output notwithstanding, he’s been a good prospect anyway. Hasn’t translated at MLB level yet, but it doesn’t mean it can’t. Sox took too long to get rid of Robert, but it’s a decent return considering his salary.
Roberts has been both terrible and injury prone the last few years. Not combo I wanted personally either.
Acuna JR is Ticked
Hope they weren’t good players.
Feels like a great return for the White Sox, because it’s anything.
Acuña is going to be good. White Sox win this one.
he’s a professional pinch runner and defensive substitute.
You all obviously haven’t been watching the Venezuela winter league!!!!!
His career doesn’t look that promising, but whatever the Mets did to him it killed his power, and he’s a plus defender at 2B, SS, and probably CF.
Leave him at a position for 600 PA for two years and he has a decent chance of turning into a competent, 2-win regular.
The Sox got burned here in the exchange of talent. It’s strictly a salary dump.
If this was after 2021 sure they got burned, but Robert sucks.
White Sox won the trade, because of the salary dump….
White Sox failed to get anyone to bite at the high demand they had for two off seasons. This is not a win for them. Acuna has no options left. He was a poor spring away from being waived with the Mets. He’s more suspect than prospect.
Nooooo….for a time….I wanted the Orioles to acquire Luis Robert Jr…anyway…should be interesting to see how this works out
Damn, thought Acuna really had something…
Nice get by Chicago.
We’ll see for New York. Better keep Tyrone Taylor around.
Taylor’s not going anywhere.
… unfortunately.
@Bill: I’d love for Taylor to stick around but as a 4th OF/defensive replacement. If Benge makes the team, that’s where Taylor will be. Fine by me as his defense is great.
Now they don’t have to play Taylor. He’s a fifth OF at best, AAAA. Keep Jett & Mauricio, unload Baty & Vientos.
Keep Baty, dump Mauricio. Mauricio is too raw and undisciplined. Baty is blossoming.
Totally agree rct! Mauricio is terrible in the field and swings at way too many pitches out of the strike zone. Baty looked promising last year
The Mets think he is so promising that Baty has been moved to the bench!
Baty isn’t the problem. If he can play 3rd and 2nd he can learn 1st. He finally learned to elevate the ball in the second half last year, and hit 18 HR and drove in 50. He’s not Alonso, but he doesn’t have to be, they’ve added enough other offense to pick up the slack. He’ll be the first baseman by mid season and Polanco the full time DH. Plus he’s got 4 more years of control, that’s not the kind of player you get rid of.
Not to be overly pessimistic, but when was the last time a team of mercenaries like the Mets are going to be have enough runway to build a culture and the team cohesion needed to get them to a World Series?? Getting rid of the players whom the fan base adored. Sticking new guys at positions they have never played before. Homegrown players? Maybe at catcher and a couple starting pitchers. It’s a lot to ask for a hodge-podge team like this to instantly come together and succeed.
@Ignorant SOB: I get your concerns, but Bichette, Semien, Polanco, and Robert are all on short term deals. The “culture” and “team cohesion” will be built in the coming years by players like McClean, Alvarez, Tong, Sproat, Baty, Benge, Jett Williams, Ewing, Jacob Reimer, Wenninger, Santucci, Lambert, Ross, etc. Mets have a boatload of talent that will be MLB-ready in 2026/2027.
This year? They’ll hodge-podge it and just hope things work out. But the Mets are building for the future.
What is angel gonna do? He is a pinch runner who looks like he should be selling candy at the games.
Can Tyrone Taylor still play QB too? Was good with the Bills
Lol that that’s it. Cannot believe the Reds couldn’t beat that. Get lost, Cheap-e-linis
I know, right? And a lot of the brainiacs here think the White Sox did great, lol.
The 20m was probably a turn off to Reds and many teams. And who knows how the Sox value Acuna. Shouldn’t be much but lot of stupid teams out there.
Why would the Reds spend at least 1/22m on a player worth 0.6 and 1.3 fWAR in 2024-2025?
As a Reds fan I’m glad they didn’t waste 20+ million on Robert. He doesn’t own an 88 mph Delorean so he’s not going back to the player he was a couple years ago.
You’ll be a lot more thankful they didn’t pull the trigger on him come June when you see he hasn’t done anything and the Mets aren’t even playing him in the lineup anymore.
I’m sure the Reds could have beat that (every team could have) but the Reds didn’t want the salary – and apparently no one else did either with the exception of the Mets.
I like it for both teams. Acuna still has a lot of youth and upside, and if the change of scenery is all Robert need, the Mets could hit big on that.
Would need to start hitting ball hard in the air. Or walk more. Not impossible but unlikely.
I think he’s at a point in his career where walking more is just not going to happen, but even in his breakout season he managed to put up big value with below average OBP skills by keeping a strong power/speed profile and solid glovework.
I was talking about Acuna. So if his breakout season was 39 abs I can’t take much from that. He was awful last year although still not enough abs. I think he is somewhere in the middle but closer to last season. Could be a mlb utility player or glove speed average regular at 2b cf. Could just as easily be dfa non tender down the road.
Robert is a no doubt regular worth 20m NY 1 year with potential to surpass that. I would guess if healthy he is back for 27 if there is a 27 and I’ll guess there will be. Does anyone not want to make massive amounts of $ in 27? No $ and less $ in the years after sounds awful to me.
If Roberts was worth his salary, the White Sox would have had better offers, by far.
Maybe they did. And being worth his salary vs being able to afford it are completely different things.
If he normalizes his BABIP, he should have a good season.
Acuna could slide into CF and the pitcher seems like a lotto ticket at best, not terrible considering LRJ’s trade value has been in a downward spiral.
Ask any Mets fan and the front office Acuna can’t play CF. If he could Jeff McNeil wouldn’t have been the primary CFer for a lengthy stretch last season..Acuna takes terrible angles on fly balls.
Mets were in a playoff race. The WhiteSox are losing 100 games. They’ll give him a shot.
Yeah more like dump in center field. Sliding is for average or above defenders bats.
Acuna is having a great winterball. Hope he does well in Chicago
Isn’t White Sox infield a bit crowded already? He’s not above the level of those guys they’re having
He’ll probably play center for the Sox
“Look at me, I can be centerfield”
That’s a scary thought, the corner OFers deserve a raise. Mets front office didn’t think he could handle CFer hence why they used McNeil out there last season. Word out of the minors was his angles are awful.
Spring training is coming. It was take whatever you can get or pay him. If you can hit or play elite defense they Sox aren’t so amazing they can find a spot for him if he does one of those things.
Sox held on to Robert way too long. Acuna is not good. Ahh well, it happens.
Terrible
So the white Sox hung onto him all this time for THIS? Let. Getz. Cook.
Considering LRJ value was in a downward spiral it doesn’t scream a bucket of balls type return.
A bucket of game balls for a bucket of pregame warmup balls.
They dumped what was left of his contract. That alone is a win.
They could have paid him 2m and walked away. Helluva gamble for Acuna and a 21 yo in A ball who walks the park.
As long as the rumors have been going it would seem there probably wasn’t a much better offer. A high upside infielder and a pitcher who could potentially be useful after a little more development along with salary relief for a player that isn’t part of their future.
I’m good with that.
If Robert can stay healthy and get in a groove, him and Soto could be a dangerous duo.
Acuna isn’t a “high upside infielder.”
Acuna has no options, which means any development has to occur in the majors.
Mets getting something. Not sure if better.
Nice work, I guy who was good 3 years ago
What do the Mets think they’ve achieved? It’s really exciting to be getting a player whose obp improved from .278 in ’24 to .297 last year.
Its a lottery ticket. He COULD be great! most likely not but he still plays good defense and has great speed, which plays off any bench.
He’ll be starting if he stays healthy.
He may be part of a platoon since his career numbers against lefties are still pretty good. If he starts against lefties, comes in for defense/speed situations and has an opportunity to reclaim his prior success, it’s probably worth a spot on the roster. Now if he totally craps the bed, we still only gave up an infielder who hasn’t put it together and a super young pitching prospect.
The talent they gave up does nothing for something like a Peralta trade.
Mets got a outfielder even more so a cf. Great speed so 1st to 3rd 30 40 so. Hits ball above average and not long ago well above average. Doesn’t hit it on the ground a lot. Walks a decent amount. Strikes out a lot but not close to unplayable a lot. Is that worth 20m probably. A NY 20m absolutely. All it cost them was well it didn’t cost them anything they just unloaded some spare junk parts they had laying around. Potentially with better coaching and or motivation he has the ability still to be a all star.
And the 110% tax makes his cost $42MM!
You just set yourself up to get dunked on. How was Grisham’s 2024 OBP of a robust .290?
To be fair, Grisham was the 4th outfielder that season. Not much was expected from him other than defense
Mets got alot of talent if they get to the playoffs. No pitching though. Framber would be perfect for them
Pauley is the perfect name for a Southsider
This is surely one of the trades of all time.
ISWYDT
I think the Mets still need Bellinger and Valdez. Robert will be lucky to play 50% of the games.
And he will suck for 75% of those games
Thx to the Mets for making sure Robert didn’t end up in LA.
Even I can’t predict how many games he will play.
This isn’t a bad deal for the ChiSox, but I’m surprised they didn’t have any better offers given how few CF are available.
Teams are crying poor. Maybe they love Acuna.
Bellinger is heading back to the Bronx…disappointing.
Mets payroll is now officially higher than last year.
Assuming we have a season after this one, I have to imagine the Mets front office will have a better idea of what young talent is major league ready (think Baty, Williams, Benge, Tong, Sproat, Scott, etc.) From there, they can cut a substantial amount of expensive vets. This is what Uncle Steve envisioned when he bought the team; let’s see if his plan pays off.
No he envisioned a World Series in the first five years and if he didn’t get one he would be gravely disappointed.
Solid. Mets still need another outfielder. Benge probably wont be ready. I guess that may be Brett Baty. Or maybe they sign someone.
Bader to play right and move Soto to left. Hopefully the ball boy can cover the line for him and not get hurt.
Stearns now resorting to rosary beads for 2026
Acuna sucks. No one who has actually watched him in person can actually believe is anything more than a bench filler. White Sox not doing better than this shows they should have traded him last year. Robert will be a good get for the 50 games he will play
Someone translate the return of it had been reds players
Basically gave up Noelvi for Robert.
I know better than that may friend
In what world is Acuna even close to being as good as Noelvi? You guys seem to have your Acunas mixed up or something.
I thought Noelvi was a bust?
He has ups and downs but seemed to benefit from moving to right field last year. 263/300/448 in about 400 at bats last year
Not even in the stratosphere.
I don’t know what the reds have. But some fast young 2b who doesn’t walk or have power. And a random 2025 pitcher drafted rounds 6 to 15.
Acunas highest top 100 ranking was 71 and Martes was 10. I dont think they are even close to giving up a Marte
More Cedric Mullinses!
Terrible trade! Getzy got taken on this one. Should have stuck to his guns and traded him at the deadline instead. Acuna is not even close to being a good prospect and the pitcher is not even in the Mets top 10 prospects. What a wasted move. Typical Sox and was driven by being cheapies on finances. This won’t get folks to the park!
Well if Robert didn’t suck then maybe the White Sox would have gotten a better return.
Not a top 20 prospect. Or 30. Top 50 maybe probably. Acuna was the “big get” “headliner” “prize”
LRJ not on the roster doesn’t drastically reduce their win total whatsoever.
As he said the return wasn’t what it could have been. What does their win total have to do with it?
It made zero sense for the Sox to pick up his option in the first place. They risked getting stuck paying 20 million during a pointless season to someone who would have contributed nothing b/c he was miserable playing for them, with the best case scenario being trading him for prospects that aren’t worth even a fraction of what his salary is. It seems they thought better of it, realized how stupid picking up his option was, and dumped him and his salary for essentially nothing. It is absolutely pointless for the Sox to even field a team until they get an ownership change. Nothing but incompetence and bad juju.
You guys thought you were getting 3 of the Reds top 5 prospects. Theres a reason teams kept turning down the offers from the White Sox.
But at least the pitcher is a Harvard grad so he’ll be able to explain the improbability of the ChiSox to get out if the cellar even with the divine intervention of Pope Leo.
Hey, atleast they saved some money 🙄
He wasnt worth Burns, Lowder and Arroyo
Burns was not drafted yet. Lowder I think was the sticking point. But pretty sure Sal Stewart was in there ! He’s already better than Robert. Think it was Stewart arroyo and petty. Arroyo was fringe top 50, it was before the shoulder injury. Getz has no clue what he’s doing
It was definitely Burns last off season because Steele Hall was last years draft pick. They wanted Burns and Lowder.
Maybe if he’s the 4th outfielder? This guy Louis Robert is RANCID
He’s miles better than Tyrone Taylor.
Not really. It’s an awful deal. It basically adds payroll without wins. Acuna and Pauley are moot.
The underlying metrics better be good.
Yankees should drop their offer to bellinger from 5/160 to 3/90 now that the mets grabbed robert. Although belli could still go to mets i guess for 1b. Although I guess Toronto is still in the belli market as well
Mets have 4 better outfielders? I wouldn’t rule them out at least to price enforce.
Price enforce? Bellinger is not worth what the Yankees are offering. Go ahead and top it if you’re foolish enough.
I mean, if this is all they were going to get for Robert, then maybe they should have just held onto him and see if he can rebuild his value before the deadline. Right now, Acuna looks like a glove-first utility guy, and Pauley was a 12th round pick who wasn’t even ranked among Baseball America’s top 400 draft prospects last year. If the goal here was just to get the contract off the books, then mission accomplished I guess.
Right you are as usual
Holding onto him means paying him. Unless they are trying to win or he is so beloved fans will cancel their season tickets to a 20m level no reason to keep him. I’m sure the owner would rather have the 20m for himself. Should have traded him when his data was better and he had more years of control left.
@mlb1225
Rebuild a players value, then trade him? A shame the Pope couldn’t pass along that pearl of wisdom to the WSox FO through devine intervention. 😉
They can play Acuña a bunch in CF to see if there’s something there. He wasn’t going to be anymore than a pinch runner if he stuck in NY. That’s probably all he is but they have the ABS available.
They blew it with Robert long ago. He would’ve had to have a pretty great first half to get anything back. Clears the salary and they get something. Jerry didn’t have to pay a dime or let him walk for absolutely nothing by declining the option a couple months ago.
Not what I’d call a win but I think they already lost this one from not dumping earlier.
This is the same what if they had 12 months ago and 6 months ago. His option should have been declined.
They just got 2 players and didn’t have to pay him a dime. They would’ve had to pay $2MM to buy him out. They definitely made the right call.
Trading him 2 years ago when they were also terrible would’ve brought back a haul of talent.
They had to pay him for the past 12 months. They could have signed 2 fa’s that were equally as good as these players.
We are in agreement, he should have been dumped earlier.
To think he was such a hot item a few years back.
Quite a few years ago. I’m at the age too where time flies…and players’ best seasons are just long forgotten memories… Can we bet on the total number of strikeouts a player will have for a season? Somebody ask Kevin Hart…
I feel like he’s another Cedric Mullins
Cedric usually plays more games though. Robert expires at around 110 games and needs to recharge until the next season by laying on the beach and drinking $37 Mai Tais.
Oh gawd, please don’t say that!
One of the biggest “what if” players Robert has turned into.
I don’t love this deal. Two lottery tickets that probably won’t amount to much. Clear some money off the books? Big deal….they aren’t going to use that to acquire any additional free agents.
I hate being a Sox fan
They could’ve gotten way more from the reds last year if they weren’t so stubborn, albeit while paying down the salary.. anyways I hope it works out for him in New York.
Acuna is electric. You’ll see. He can ignite players around him. He just needs to play. Whenever he’s in the game he elevates the speed of the game and everybody around him. He’s fun to watch…errr was fun to watch…uuh when the Mess actually gave him a few games…that is…
Not even 2 lottery tickets. Maybe the $1 ones. A failed prospect and some random guy you can take multiple of in any draft middle rounds.
Can’t help but be a little sad to see Luis leave, but at the same time I’m excited to see new players in CF.
Lol Mets.
Nothing to laugh at here. They made out well.
Acuna will most likely play centerfield for the Sox I’m sure with Montgomery and Meidroth already in the middle infield
The fact that the white Sox traded him and the Mets took on 22m and got anything in return is a miracle.
Barring Robert going back into the future this basically not a lot of lot
The Mets have finally replaced Pete Alonso in the lineup! His strikeout total that is!
Fair, I think they are still in on bellinger. Bellinger really isn’t a center fielder. Benge prob starters in the minors and comes up week 2 when Robert is hurt.
They need to stay away from Bellinger and that bloated contract he’s going to get.
Assuming Bichette opts out after the season, Mets payroll for LT purposes is now $364m—with this pitching staff:
McLean
Holmes
Peterson
Senga
Manaea
+ Tong and Sproat. But definitely thought they would’ve added to this by mid-Jan.
All that noise for all that time for that? Sheesh.
All this means is SWAGGY V and Batty are staying put.
Saggy D.
Mister Met is leaping for joy somewhere right now
He likes weird lineups
End of an era @ MLBTR
This guy and his trade possibilities were good for 5-10 articles a year. Can’t say I will miss them, like at all.
Mets are sure thing playoff team? If not trade deadline Robert rumors! Or maybe Lindor won’t like him!
Bellinger about to settle on 1/30 with the Yankees.
Kind of surprised the Sox were not able to get Vientos out of this deal supposedly they were really after him at one point.
Right, they should have gotten someone better than this.
They paid no cash. Had they, they might have gotten a better return.
Awful deal for the Mets. $20m could have been used for a year of Kopech and Hays.
Seems most Met fans forget the 110% tax that brings Robert’s cost to $44MM. Try making an argument that he’s worth that much.
The Mets are killing baseball LOL.
Can you edit out the “LOL” please? Too pathetic of an offseason for “LOL.” Change it to BOOOOO STEARNS!!! 😉
What a disappointmet!
Carlos Beltran is elected to the Hall of Fame — some of his career moments were at Shea Stadium — then the news is bogarted by this midnight trade for an OF the ChiSox have long wanted to unload. Who else but LOLmets.
Both teams got hosed.
Change of scenery may well be the best thing for all parties involved. Luis Robert Jr. didn’t have too much quality around him hitting wise, not that its an excuse for lack of production. He had what? Jose Abreu for a couple’ish years? I think both he and Acuna benefit from the move. Acuna goes to a rebuilding team where he will definitely have a chance to prove he is more than just a utility guy. Robert Jr. goes to a team that has some good, still young hitters around him that he will surely benefit from.
It does make you wonder though, the past couple of years the ChiSox were so adamant on keeping Luis Robert Jr around, you would think there had been better offers or returns over that timespan. But I’m not in the know. Maybe they figured its now or never.
Bellinger was never coming to the Mets, he wouldn’t rake in RF at Citi like he can in Yankee Stadium.
This is a deal of potential for both teams. Robert showed what he could do in one season for the Sox and the Mets are willing to bet $20 million he might do it again. Granted, he hasn’t done it any of his other years. But he can get to and catch the ball. Meanwhile Benge is getting at bats in Syracuse until he’s ready, and there’s no pressure on him in ST.
Acuna seemed like a change of scenery candidate for the last couple of years. He’s got the ability, but just hasn’t put it together. I don’t count Venezuelan Winter League stats. He is out of options, so he needs to make the team, probably as the 26th man.
Good luck to both of them as they try to figure things out!
“Robert showed what he could do in one season…But he can get to and catch the ball.” but only for a max 110 games before he turns into a pumpkin.
Good stuff. I imagine Belli is more interested in the largest pile of $ than how good the right field is for hrs.
@AI: Yep. If Belli signs w/the Giants, you’ll be right in spades.
For a few million aav more he would take less to be a Yankee. But 5m more he’ll play in Yellowstone park. Only # he worried about is bank account #. If Padres want to pay for his fake stats like Xander he won’t give a it about that marine layer.
So the ChiSox have a bunch of infielders, 3 catchers and a pass his prime left fielder that has to work the whole outfield. They must see Acuna as an outfielder or trading to Sosa for one.
The White Sox have Everson Pereira, Tristan Peters, and Jarred Kelenic all coming to camp (as well as Dustin Harris), joining Derek Hill and Drake Baldwin, and now Acuna. I imagine 4 of the 7 make the opening day roster
You mean Brooks Baldwin. Drake Baldwin in a catcher for Atlanta. As I like Brooks but none of those guys are really saying much. I have Brooks as the everyday RF with Benny in LF
Yep, Wrong Baldwin (at least i didn’t say Alec)…
lol there is another guy out there maybe those guys are just stopgap for one Braden Montgomery. Maybe by August or September you have him in right and Brooks in center
Also CNN anchor lady
Thought:
Like it
Gave up little. That dude a non prospect and Angel likely a UT although with inside.
Walk yr for Robert. Budding superstar as recent as 2023. If he puts up even league average offense with his D and base running would be a strong addition
Downstream effects of trade:
Suspect out on Bellinger
With Angel gone Baty staying as McNeil utility piece: 3B, 2B, even 1b.
Mauricio and Vientos now available as trade bait, although Mauricio may be stashed in AAA as depth. Doubtful those two go anywhere though.
A Vientos/Baty platoon at DH would be an above average offensive option.
Still need a reliable backup OF if Benge ain’t ready as you don’t want Taylor playing LF. Unless they high on Benge starting immediately in LF? And maybe Baty ability to handle it? Or vet like Tauchman? Tauchman would also provide a decent DH option if Benge ready.
Goes with philosophy of improving defense
At very least he’s a strong platoon dude as he kills righties
I’m assuming the Mets will want a guy on the bench capable of playing SS. Mauricio is the only guy that qualifies now? But maybe not that important since Bichette can slide over if needed.
You forgot to mention how much you like your Mets being stuck paying $42M for Robert this season. Bichette and Robert averaging the same AAV. Wonder how many total games played the two of them average this year. Interesting prop bet—–set an O/U on that. More time in the lineup or on the IL?
@NashvilleJeff
It is not $42MM for “this season”. He would make $42MM, over the next two seasons, if his option for 2027 is exercised. He is guaranteed $22MM for this upcoming season. $20MM salary for 2026 with a $2MM buyout on the 2027 option.
@guilderc: I didn’t say the Mets are PAYING Robert $42M this season. The Mets owe the 110% 3rd tier luxury tax penalty on his $20M 2026 salary. Do the math. The penalty’s $22M on the $20M salary. Thus the Mets are paying $42M FOR Robert this season. The penalty on the $2M buyout on the $27M option for 2027 won’t be factored in until it’s known what luxury tax tier the Mets are in next season—or if they’re over or not.
They’re effectively paying Bichette $84MM. Any salary the Mets add looks awful w/ the tax. Cohen doesn’t seem to have an issue not making any money on the Mets as long as SAC is still raking it in.
Pure salary dump by the White Sox.
Cashman must be smiling right now as his main competition for Bellinger is likely off the board
If Bellinger would sign with the Mess, he’d have to join the RV0BS Group in 2026 after Stearns starts it. Citi Field is too big for him to jog around the bases. Instead he’d get serenaded by the fans BOOOS while running back to the dugout to get a cute hug from fellow RVoBS-man Lindor.
This moves tells me that Bellinger’s heart is being a Yankee and Boras is being instructed to do his best to get the best deal possible from Yankees and nobody else. Bellinger and his wife really loved NYC and he really loved being a Yankee and his teammates. I just don’t think Jays will go crazy with long term deal and perhaps Bellinger wants no part of Canada. Giants are out as he won’t go there either. Welcome back Belli
Bellinger’s best move for Bellinger is to go back to the Yankees. He does not have 39-47HR power. That was just a temporary thing. The short distance to RF at Yank-it Stadium is his best friend. Bellinger should get a tattoo that says— 314′ —and live in pinstripes…at home in his PJs and at work as well.
I believe its Boras playing the Mets against the Yankees on contract terms, perfect scenario for Boras two team that are rivals in the same city. I just believe that the Mets had a number in mind for Bellinger and Boras has reach beyond that number and instead the Mets went to plan “B” had a backup plan in this trade for Robert.
The biggest winner of this trade was clearly Luis Robert. Getting away from that cesspool of a team and owner, good for him.
This also opens up a roster spot for the Mets to bring up Jett Williams by mid season if he performs ok at Syracuse to be their utility player to back up 2B, SS, and OF, just like McNeil but a lot younger and less expensive.
He will play at most 100 games with rest on injured list
Jose Siri 2.0 loading……
Im legit surprised it cost the Mets a MLB utility player.
You should be because they didn’t. His ops last year isn’t playable. They gave up a pinch runner potentially improve to a mlb utility player.
Nonsense. Acuna is a quality late inning glove at multiple positions up the middle and pinch runner with speed . Literally, a MLB utility player for any 26 man roster.
More of the last guy next to last on bench for me. But if you want to give a .567 ops 400 500 abs go for it.
Well he is a utility player. Just not a good one
This is such a Mets move.
Can he pitch?
Great move by Stearns! The fact that half the clueless commenters think the White Sox “won” is hilarious. All they did was relieve themselves of his contract for this year.
White Sox did win. They dumped salary and got something. If they are claiming the Mets lost that is a problem but I know you aren’t surprised. 95 percent thought Boston won the Sale trade.
What did Kopech and Moncada really do for the White Sox, and where are they now? Sale got a World Series with Boston and recorded the final out. I’d say Boston won that trade by a mile.
Neither player the Sox got for Robert will ever post a WAR over 2 in a season.
Can’t wait for the 30 for 30 on the White Sox’s colossal failure. Mix in La Russa’s DUI.
When you decide to trade a player you get what you can get.
Robert trade return stinks. But the owner gets a extra 20 or 22 million. That’s the return. Could have not picked up his option or dfa him whatever but they got 2 potential players for him. Probably don’t amount to much but you never know.
They got 2 top 50 prospects for Crochet. Plus 2 others. At the time how much better could they have done? They took the best offer they believed available. Crochet value was only going down so they made the trade. Best they could do they would say. I don’t know what else is available. Seemed about as expected to me. I believe Boston won. 2 years of one of the 10 5 3 best pitchers on the planet. Cheap cheap years. And the opportunity to extend him to a team friendly extension. One of these prospects will need to be a yearly all star for Chicago to win. Or 2 of them be multiple all stars. And real all stars. Not Chicago’s one all star per team or Teel just because he is placed at catcher. Could happen but not looking good. Teel statcast defense isn’t good. Can take a walk so thats good. Could also just sign Caratini 2 for 14m. He needs to be much better than that. Maybe he can but data isn’t impressive but he’s young. Montgomery is walking too. But so does Tauchman and he cost them what 3m. Still time but I never liked the odds of these guys becoming stars. Solid above average everyday regulars sure. Most trades are quantity trades. You wouldn’t trade someone you believe will be a star. So another team has to out develop you. Chicago did fine. Maybe the best they could do. Very tuff path to make it worth more than Crochet. But they had to get something for him. It’s hard to win a trade where you are trading away the best player. You can win as in you got about the best you could at the time. But looking at it years later you will lose more often when trading away a stud.
As captivating as the 1 for 1 on the Orioles revival and 1 and done contention window.
Ha! & even the O’s made back to back playoff appearances!
The White Sox have to be the most disappointing collection of highly regarded young players. Never seen a young team with that much promise completely fall apart. A full team regression.
They literally wanted 3 of the Reds top 5 prospects. Sometimes being Greedy gets you.
More being stupid in talent evaluation than greedy.
A for NY. Had no need for Acuna other than depth and pinch running. Easily replaced prospect. Got Robert for free basically. 20m in NY isn’t bad for his upside.
A+ Salary dump for Chicago. If you were trying to contend you would just keep Robert at this return. They got something though just nothing exciting. Acuna can be a solid average player. Pitching depth in minors is always good. A+ not much surplus here.
The Mets are in the 3rd luxury tax tier—110% penalty on Robert’s $20M. . They’re paying $42M for the pleasure of having Robert on the roster—–healthy or not. Sorry to disagree AI, but they didn’t get Robert “for free” no matter what anyone thinks of the Sox return.
How dare you disagree with me. I thought higher of that of you. Most disappointing moment of my life.
Are they in that tax tier because of lil ole Robert 20m? Or from Semien Soto Lindor Polanco etc?
Did you see the attendance increase from 2024 to 2025? As I predicted and why I raved about the Soto signing. Now they aren’t spending $ on pitching? Let Alonso go. Don’t know if you seen heard but that didn’t go over to well with fans. Taxes suck but not as much as losing season ticket holders and building a new casino and having it be empty.
If you were worried about tax then maybe you shouldn’t have signed Soto Bichette? That seems to be a bigger problem than lil ole 1 year deal at 20m 2m buyout.
I’m sure someone as intelligent as yourself has a idea how much $ teams make in playoffs. How companies paying for sponsorships advertising like to see team having a active off season.
Let’s face it they wanted another bat. If not Robert than someone. Rumor has it this was alternative to Belli. So if that is true they saved a huge huge amount of $.
But sure. If they wanted to pay less taxes and jeopardize attendance advertising and lower their playoff odds I suppose they could have signed a random example like Alex Verdugo!!!!! Or trade for a Jared Kelnic type!!!! Maybe a multi year deal to someone who in his 30s just randomly started hitting all these hrs!!!!
But yeah the free is they gave up absolutely nothing. Just some low end easily replaceable spare parts.
Yeah, I’m not saying the Mets can’t afford the cash. Cohen burns money for fun. I just think they could have spent their money better. But hey—–As a Braves fan, I like seeing them spend money on Bichette and Robert. Good chance those 2 spend a lot of time on the IL. That’ll make for some interesting rants from Met fans on here this season. Spending more than most other teams last year didn’t help their playoff odds. Maybe it will this year. They should waste some cash on pitching while they’re at it—-they’re good at that too.
Should have just signed 36 year old Mike Yastrzemski and called it a day.
Cohen has $ to waste. And isn’t really wasting any. Soto wasn’t just free but made them $. Attendance jump was mega. NY is a pretty big down. Room for 2 teams if not 3. Yankees are in a weak spot. Old fans aren’t changing teams but new young minds are up for grabs. I believe I seen somewhere Mets TV deal is coming up not real soon but soon enough that winning baseball will be a huge selling point. Casino. A lot going on. Yeah he can afford to spend his own $. But I think he’s making some good business decisions. A lot of tax write offs as well although the bigger ones have ended. His early moves were so so but with Stearns he is doing some smart things. Dangerous franchise.
You don’t sound like a Robert guy. Hoskins whag 15m. Kepler 10. Santana Goldschmidt 12m Conforto 20m.
Robert gold glove level cf defense. Stole 30 some bases in 110 games. Speed running bases. Hits ball hard in the air. Walks some. 20m in NYC $ is a bargain. You’re just spoiled thinking trading a garbage 2b failed prospect should get you a cy young winner!!!!!
Kepler’s facing a steroid ban this season. He got popped the other day. Laugh at the Braves signing Yaz if you like, but I bet he plays more games than Robert this year and for 20% of the money. Mets have $42M sunk into Robert this season—not $20M. That 110% 3rd luxury tax bill smarts. Bet he plays less games than the luxury tax number. 110 games last year? I’ll take the under on that in 2026. They should have spent $3M on Tauchman. At least he’ll post up.
White Sox could’ve gotten much more had they traded him after his break out season or even before that season.
Or even last year or 2 years.
BOOOOOOOOOOOO STEARNS!!!!!!!!!!
Let’s math this out here so that we can all make sense of this…
Luis Robert Jr $20M .223 Ave, 14 HR, 53 RBI, 111 Games, 112 Ks, IL-prone
Brandon Nimmo $20.5M .262 Ave, 25 HR, 92 RBI, 155 Games, 141 Ks, 150+ games played past 4 years straight
Luisangel Acuna 23 years old, electric speed, high ceiling, sparkplug, great defense, good teammate
BOOOOOOOOOOOO STEARNS!!!!!!!!!!
My 2026 Prediction: Luis Robert Jr .214 Ave, 14 HR, 42 RBI, 107 Games, 132 Ks. Stearns starts official Rich Victims of Booing Support Group. RVoBS! Lindor, Beltran, Bonilla, & Baez join as founding members. Their crest is a “thumbs down” hand. They all wear a large solid gold version of it on a huge gold chain to show their support for each other. Soto joins the RVoBS in 2027. BOOK IT!
You know, at 45 you really need to get out of your mother’s basement and get some fresh air and light…
Introduce him once outta there to the All-Time Undefeated
You can get Acuna back when they dfa non tender him. Rangers will probably be thrilled to salary dump Nimmo in a few years. Probably get him back right now.
Don’t forget Truman Pauley!!!!!!!!
Brilliant analysis. Let’s pick only the weakest stats from one player and compare them to the strongest stats of another player completely ignoring everything else.
White Sox, lol.
$400 million payroll in order to finish 3rd in the division. Wow.
Could easily finish 1st. Nothing in division that scary. If he makes playoffs and host some playoff games he won’t care at all about the $. Definitely won’t care when he gets his TV rights. It’s a hobby for him. Not one of these owners that depends on it for income. Attendance went from 2.4 to 3.2 million just by signing Soto so he is paying for himself. Maybe they see even more room to grow. NLCS World Series should make it grow.
This is a win for Chicago white Sox, they were gonna put all there eggs in the basket of Roberts and hope that he gets hot to where teams would be calling to trade for him, so for a team rebuilding it gets them out of the horrible contract that they gave him.
Agree.
Not horrible at all. Mets were thrilled to take on this contract as they should be.
I’m more confused than anything.
I was confused when the Sox decided to give 20 million in the first place. However, once that decision was made it made a little sense to let him start the season in Chicago and see if he could stay healthy and productive. Now, he’s traded for basically nothing other than a poor hitting infielder and a lottery ticket. The Sox are loaded with infielders, most of whom are much better at baseball than what they received.
In my mind, there was never a world where JR would ship Robert out of town with a ton of dough so the return would be less embarrassing. JR doesn’t like to pay other teams payroll.
Maybe there’s another move coming but I won’t hold my breath. This looks to be nothing other than a bluff that was going wrong and Getz got the order to unload the 20 M …no matter the return.
Acuna has name Acuna so that helps. I’d say a majority of people like this trade. “Look at Acuna winter league stats”.
Should have traded him sooner. Sox been good with trading off players. They overvalued Robert severely. And waited too long even this year. Probably overvalue Acuna. Can’t imagine another team not wanting to beat this offer.
@aj: Once WSox surprisingly were able to sign Murakama, that changed things. Reinsdorf told Getz to prioritize salary dumping him rather than hold out for a couple better second tier prospects.
As a Cleveland fan I sure was jealous of that young CWS outfield 5-6 years ago. To get two together like that in Luis Robert and Eloy Jiminez was pretty rare, like Fred Lynn and Jim Rice in 1975 (I’m showing my age here). Wildly different outcomes, I never expected both to collapse. It’d be nice to see Robert rebound, the game can’t have enough decent CFs to watch.
Agree w/all of that except your desire to see Robert rebound. As a Braves fan, I can’t hope for that.
He doesn’t need to rebound. Just needs to stay healthy. What’s wrong with him? Chronic or just poor luck? If healthy he should play gold glove cf steal 30 40 50 bases and hit 20 hrs.
Robert Jr is very overrated.
Apparently not with this sorry return.
Overrated by the fans, not the teams. Just wait until the LF gets a bad hop, and Robert never moved from CF to back him up. The guy is a prima donna and part of the cancer in the WS clubhouse. Him, Eloy, TA, Moncada all milk the IL. Good luck.
Good job Leo Getz brother. 3 years too late. I’m not it was the Mets over any team from the NL Central.
The Mets got pale-hosed.
Excellent writeup: the best writer on staff it would seem
Can’t sweat about the money when you’ve acquired Soto. You don’t want to repeat the Angels and Trout story. Keep going forward.
And if you are worried about $ don’t sign Polanco Bichette. Rather have Robert.
Dave-O strikes again. Going to be a long season.
Good move by the Mets. Robert is talented. A change of scenery might be the boost he needs to tap back into that talent.
Here’s hoping Parker Meadows recovers some of that ’24 magic.
(I was wanting Tigers to trade for Robert)
This is the first good move the Mets have made this offseason
Getting stuck w/a $42M ($20M salary plus the $22M luxury tax hit) bill for 1 year of a real injury risk is a good move? Not to mention the horrific number the Mets are stuck w/on Bichette in 2026 due to salary and the luxury tax ($88M plus). Two guys who might be the answer to a trivia question after this season. “What 2 players on the same team cost their organization the most money for the least amount of combined games played in MLB history.” Sounds like the basis for a nice prop bet.
Now they just need to add Bellinger and Valdez to potentially win the division.
I love this move. Loved the Nimmo and McNeil trades as well.
Bichette though I dunno. 88m pretty freaking high. Stuck with him too if does poorly. Robert you can buy him out.
Polanco 20m plus the 22m tax hit! And not even to play 2b! Give me Lowe or Lux. One of the Japanese guys. Can’t someone they already have play 1b? Platoon Hoskins Goldschmidt with someone. O’Hearn was available. Probably more. These mlb off seasons are so long I can keep track. But if I am paying Polanco 20m a year it’s because I am desperate for a 2b. That Bichette $ because I am desperate at SS.
From what I heard they are all about pitching and defense.
Your focus on money in league with no salary cap is beyond ridiculous
Focusing on a owner like Cohen is ridiculous. He has so much $ he can pay the tax. Most owners have to focus on $ and the cap is irrelevant. They don’t have that much of a net worth. Can’t afford to spend that much period let alone taxes. Small markets never spent over 150m usually around 90 to 120. There’s mid markets that never went over the cap or even 200m. Only a few teams have hit the highest tier and stayed there. Majority of owners are very much focused on $ because they don’t have enough of it not to.
Siemen is at 2b so it’s LF or 1B or DH for Polanco.
@AI: Vientos or Baty can play 1B.
Spending is not the Mets problem. The focus is on spending to put together a good team. The Mets are not spending wisely.
It’s a one year deal for Robert and bo.
You just answered your own question…it’s not a bad deal because it’s one year. The money means nothing to Cohen.
Robert will probably be useless but acuna is also a utility guy and the Mets have 15 of him
I’m hoping he’s not but recency has shown he’s been terrible (the past 2 years in particular)
In either case, Mets up the middle defense is great with Robert, lindor, and Semien.
Then they have major defensive issues at basically all the corners. It’s an interesting configuration
A noodle bat and a lotto ticket arm…yuck.
Hell, they could have gotten 3 or 4 2B from the Tigers.
Outright theft. Mets get Robert and Whitesox get those two bums? A Harvard pitcher, really?
Pete Alonso is not that good at fielding, because he was a pitcher in his last lifetime. They do not concentrate on fielding. I would take Pete’s 126 rbis last year. Plus he plays every game. Luis Robert has a lot left in the tank.
Little brother’s exit velocity wouldn’t get him pulled over in a school zone.
IDK why, but this made me lol
I like it.
In keeping with the theme of the Mets this year they will now move Robert to 2B and move Lindor to CF. Semien will catch and they will sign Bellinger to play shortstop!
Tracks
Guess no Bellinger at SS after all!
Not the move that will get them anywhere. Just glad the Reds didn’t overpay for the guy.
Robert is the Mets 4th OF on their 40 man roster. In no way should this eliminate Bellinger outright. They can still use Belli between part time OF, part time 1B, and get some DH swings. Robert will need IL time, Taylor is not a full time starter, and Polanco never played first base before.
Go get Belli
Bollinger signed why Yankess
Well I think the trade was what you would expect to get for Robert. Its a salary dump for Chicago period. Now he may go to NY and flourish by being around players from like Polanco, Soto, Lindor, Ronny, and others. No im not racist but that could relax him some or he may understand things better when being coached or it could go the other way to. I’m just saying it could help. His best year was when he had Abreu on the White Sox. If comes into camp and feels at ease you just never know and that might help with injuries too a little. Now for Acuna you can’t call him a bust quite yet. The big question is if he is coachable. Moving to the outfield may be a plus for him. Yes he was taking bad angles before and it wasn’t the greatest but he is obviously working on it because he is playing winter ball. He may settle in and that might help him at the plate too. You never know. Its up to him he is obviously talented and he must love the game because he plays almost all year round so time will tell. Some of you go with numbers all the time and forget players can improve.
$403 million collected CBT for 2025. Ask AI how it’s distributed but surely this will be a point of interest for the players association as plenty of clubs it’s distributed to aren’t using it in free agency.
Trying to think of a way that Robert fits into the great Mets clubhouse seamlessly. The mix with Lindor, Soto and Robert under one roof oughtta be great to watch.
Cohen reminds me of Kevin Malone and the Dodgers. Takes over and immediately starts throwing money around just because he has it and acquiring names that didn’t necessarily produce but you knew who they were. Devon White, Charles Johnson, Scott Erickson, Jeff Shaw….
I think after the Dodgers got Tucker after Cohen’s ‘look for the smoke’ comment’ we all kind of knew that he was going to push for some moves…no matter what they were.
This, along with the Bichette addition, is Cohen’s effort for the smoke.
From the article:
“Roberts commanded a $26MM bonus, the kind of hefty sum for an international amateur that would subsequently be prohibited in the collective bargaining agreement.”
—
MLB needed to prevent the White Sox from ruining baseball.
Mets aren’t done with moves
So after all this time, White Sox end up getting garbage for Roberts. They are so terribly run, the owner should be embarrassed.
Its what they now do with the money saved by trading Robert’s. Any player acquired by Sox with the 20 million saved by trading Robert will count as trade piece for Robert deal
I’m not a Robert fan but he’s shown he has talent. Acuna is a backup utility infielder and the Mets traded from depth. I’m fine with this move for the Mets.
Is Robert stinks they have him for only a year and they didn’t have to give belli a monster contract.
A reasonable 2026 line for Robert — assuming health — might look like:
.245–.260 AVG, 20–25 HR, 30–35 SB, ~100–110 wRC+
with valuable defense and baserunning contributing to WAR.
I’d be ok with this. Have to figure what he’s going to be surrounded by now with the lineup. Yes bottom of the order, but brings a ton of speed and defense. His power numbers should increase.
Watch for his strikeouts to be a concern, if they continue to grow, then yes these numbers will lag. And his injuries in the past.
But I have a good feeling he’s a perfect change of scenery guy.
always been curious about him as a Phillies fan, and have your sense about him as well.
I wish you the best sir, this season. Phils are always such an incredible team to watch. Wish the Mets gave Wheeler more a chance, but he is just amazing to watch even from the other side! And Harper, no matter how old, is still a dangerous bat! But overall, a great team! Good luck this year!
Congrats to Luis Robert. Now the Mets PR machine will make sure that everyone believes…I mean…knows that you are the best CF in the game and that you are guaranteed to reach your peak performance.
Condoloences to LuisAngel Acuna. You are now what you were before the Mets got you – the Billy Ripken of little brothers…if you’re even as good as he was. You are no longer “potentially as good as Ronald”.
A decent gamble by the Mets. They need a centerfielder and he’s at least good defensively, has some power, and a lot of speed. We know he gets hurt a lot and his on base percentage has been bad. Still they give up Acuna who doesn’t look like more than a utility player or maybe an average every day player at best. If he becomes an average everyday player that’s still a win for the White Sox as well.
Yesterday, small market teams were up in arms about the Dodgers signing. and how there had to be a salary cap. Today, we read this “From a payroll standpoint, dealing Robert drops Chicago’s projected spending to $67MM. They opened last season around $81MM, so this could free them up for a late-offseason depth addition or two. The Sox could bring in a veteran middle reliever and/or a fourth outfielder whom they’d try to flip for another lottery ticket prospect in the Pauley mold at the deadline.”
What a message to the fans. It’s like paying full freight for a Broadway Show or a rock concert and when you get there you find out that it’s an all under-study performance. No refunds.
It might be because of the ridiculous number of deferrals that can make a team. Heck, if anything, the Dodgers showed all 29 other teams how to properly make it work with them. But I do think that’s the real issue. maybe not so much the money spent… but the deferrals. At least, that’s my point of view.
It’s really nice of MLB to allow their minor league teams to play in the same league as their real teams.
OK, last few days paraphrased, speculative entertainment version, recap.
– Cohen Tweets about watching or looking for smoke…almost highly in reference to potentially signing Tucker
– Tucker signs with Dodgers shortly after.
– Somewhere Cohen throws a tantrum, and probably breaks his game console, to which his butler quickly replaces it with one in storage so Stevie can get back to playing MLB the Show set to no budget, so Stevie can get all of his wisdom and logic in his own world.
– Most people with common sense, upon hearing about the smoke Tweet and seeing Tucker signing with the Dodgers could predict what personalities like Cohen would do in situations like that. For those that don’t know. they usually do something stupid right after.
– Stevie calls David and makes it clear that they’ve got to do something so Stevie won’t look dumb for the Tweet. Stevie orders for more money to be thrown at Bichette and Bellinger, with hopes to land one or both so he can justify the smoke comment.
– Bichette bites on the ridiculous money thrown at him. Probably couldn’t believe the amount for the short period. Heck, Boras probably couldn’t believe it.
– Next, Stevie probably says that’s not enough. David says maybe we can get Robert from Chicago, but the deal is that, if we want them to pay some of his contract, we have to give good prospects. If we don’t want to give up good prospects, we have to take on the contract. Stevie decides to let Stearns make the call, but demands that the trade gets done – which does with the White Sox ridding themselves of some more money that they wouldn’t have.
– Stevie is probably on the phone with Stearns about the next move that Steanrs better do. And Stevie then will be on the phone with his PR team, the team’s beat writers, and the NY media to make sure that they all spin this in his favor or else his PR team is fired, and the writers covering the team won’t get access. And with the PR team, I’m sure Stevie is demanding that the person best for the job is whoever is best at mixing Kool-Aid – essentially the person whose personality test for job prospects tested out to PR personnel or cult leader.
– Stay tuned as Cohen tries to make sure that he’s not called out about the smoke Tweet.
Peralta.
K. Cool fan fic. So they now must super overpay Bellinger so they can cover the smoke tweet as really referring to Cody.
I can see if that happens because the smoke makes the picture unclear, so it looks like Bellinger’s wearing a Yankees jersey.
BannedMarlinsFanBase:
I see the Mets picked up an elite offensive player in Bichette and a guy who’s really good defensively in centerfield in Robert with speed and some power. Not perfect players, but players that make the team better. That’s what I see.
It’s hard to see through the smoke.
BannedMarlinsFanBase:
Well some have vision and some don’t. Don’t be so hard on yourself for being in the second category.
I guess vision is a good euphemism for seeing the glass as half full while ignoring how it can be half empty.
BannedMarlinsFanBase:
Yeah, but if your perspective is only looking at it half empty because you hate the Mets, I’d hardly call that vision or objectivity. I can see both sides of things and see the talents of the players they’ve added while acknowledging the warts. I’ve yet to see where you’ve highlighted any of the positive benefits of these acquisitions. For you it’s only about them being dumb and reactionary and getting players who don’t fit. Yeah, because that’s a fair narrative.
Um, I’m not talking about the players. I’m talking about the owner. If you are looking at the warts, look at the owner. This was clearly reactionary based on his smoke comment and losing out on Tucker.
To clarify:
We both can agree to see what happens with the players because there is both good and bad with them. And it helps they got Peralta too.
However, let’s not pretend that these were not reactionary moves brought on by Cohen trying to save face for his premature ‘smoke’ Tweet.
I see it this way. Cohen threw the money in for Bichette. I’m not sure and I don’t think anyone can really be sure if Stearns wanted that because it doesn’t really fit into his efforts to improve the defense as he said. If Bichette doesn’t work defensively, it’s clearly taking Cohen’s reactionary approach as a fan over Stearns opinion as a professional.
With Robert, it’s a trade that makes more sense, but again, done after Cohen was willing to take all of the money. If solely about improving the defense, Stearns could’ve gotten cheaper options who may match the offensive production, but they would cost more prospects. This probably was a “compromise” decision between Stearns and Cohen..probably to make nice for the order on Bichette.
With Peralta, nice move on paper. Probably another “compromise” move.
At play here is an owner who is a fan, which is nothing wrong because locally in Miami, the Heat are owned by a fan of the team too. The issue is that we all have seen that most owners who are fans of their own team usually are a problem. The few success stories are guys like Micky Arison of the Heat, but that’s when fans that own teams hire a person they can trust to essentially protect them from themselves – and let that person run the team without interference. With the Mets, I think Cohen has done the right thing in hiring someone who has a track record that shows he can run the team, but the issue seems that he interferes at times…as been reported quite a few times. But Cohen hasn’t done it as much as other fan owners have in the past. It’s a little different between Cohen and his baseball operations team, and is an interesting case study on these type of owners. It seemed like Cohen was letting Stearns do his job this offseason (based on letting fan favorites go), but Cohen, like the rest of the Mets fanbase, seemed to grow impatient, and interfered after the ‘smoke’ Tweet. To me, it’s clear that it was a combination of saving face and flexing his ownership muscle to appease his fandom of his team. I’m curious to see how it goes from this point on. You, as a Mets fan, should be curious too…along with concerned. But feel free to convince yourself that I make this statement based on Mets hate. Take note, I also root for the Miami Heat, and was concerned when Arison became the owner. He was upbeat and celebratory as a fan of the team, and made guarantees just like Cohen, but I knew that fans that become owners usually make a mess of things and disrupt operations of building the team. Luckily Arison turned out to be one of the few that didn’t disrupt his team’s operations for building and let Pat Riley do his job. We see a mix with Cohen and Stearns – both not meddling and meddling. Interesting case because I don’t think we’ve seen anything like that from an owner sho is a fan of his own team. Curious to see if it works out. It will be cited in future situations when fans buy teams that they root for – either as another model to follow or another model that fails.
I think this favors the Mets although there is so much uncertainty I wouldn’t get too confident.
Robert is a 5-tool CF, a gold-glove caliber player at a position where the Mets have a desperate need, who has power and speed.
Acuna is a guy who hasn’t really hit AAA pitching let alone MLB (he did hit .303 in AAA last year but with no power and few walks). Pauley is a 12th round draft pick.
You couldn’t make a deal like this unless there were some warts. Robert had a rough 2025 (although with some weirdly bad BABIPs, if you look by month, which given his speed suggests he was insanely unlucky). He is injury prone.
White Sox should really have waited until mid-season. If Robert has a stretch like he did in July-Aug 2025 he could bring back a lot more than this. I thought that was the whole point of taking the option.
To sum, Robert has the potential to be one of the best players in the game (yes) even though its more likely he falls short of such ability and/or spends the season on the IR.. Acuna has no such potential. Since money is no concern to Cohen, I think this is a good deal for the Mets.
God I hate these moves by the Mets. I think Acuna still has time to become a really good player and they give him up for a hitter who never reached his full potential
What have you seen from acuna to think he’s going to turn a corner? I’m legitimately asking
In the games I watch he’s a good defensive player with good speed who can’t get on base. He has no power at all and the Mets have way too many middle infielders as is
I just think it’s too early to write him off. In his short time as a starter, Acuna was just like you said: low OBP and no power. After that, playing time was sporadic. In general, I don’t know how young players are supposed to develop when they are forced into platoon/utility roles, So I don’t necessarily think he’s going to turn a corner, just that there is still time. And when I say I hate these moves, that includes the two middle infield acquisitions they made
Sort of on the same topic, I feel the opposite regarding Robert. He shows flashes of brilliance followed by awful slumps and a lot of people still believe he will break out and become a star. I think he has had long enough to prove that. Just my opinion.
Look what Andrew Vaughn did after he left the white sox. I expect a motivated LRJ to look like a legit dude again for NY.
He catered the last month & a half to his White Sox numbers
The .950 OPS in September and October is cratering?
Lets put it this way. Acuna is alot more advanced then Robert was at his age, i like this trade for the Sox. Withjthatjsaid the Mets are going to get an improved batter in Robert from what he eas the past years. This is a win win for both teams.
Agree
I am believing that the Bellinger negotiations has hit the magic number where the Mets have said they will not go pass. That is the reason they made the deal for Robert. I see the Mets maybe signing Ryne Hoskin or some other FA first baseman. Now it’s time to turn toward a couple more starting pitchers.
The Bellinger hesitation isn’t about the salary
It’s the number of years
He wants 7
Mets don’t seem to want to go over 3 on almost anyone really, which is fine and the reason they traded for Robert
The Mets look more and more like the Yankees did in the late 90s early 2000s. Roberts is their Tim Raines, Bichette is their ARod (a shortstop who they make play third cause they already have a shortstop).
Cincinnati really MUST have been unwilling to deal from pitching depth. Kansas City as well.
this was not on my pre 2026 season MLB off-season bingo card…
A nearly $50 million hit for a one-bWAR guy. Must be nice to have Cohen’s money to burn.
When Stearns worked for Attanasio, he was great at making a tight budget work. Now he’s great at throwing hundreds of millions down the crapper.
And just as Bo Bichette is about to be introduced at Citi Field, the Yankees bring back Cody Bellinger.
ChuckyNJ:
Who cares?
Mets have a better lineup than the Phillies at this point, but the Phillies have a better rotation. Hopefully both teams stay healthy and we can have a good pennant race.
The Mets also announced a name change. They will now be known as the “Flushing Overpaidunderachievers.”
I like the move:
“Run Prevention” improved.
Team speed improved.
Offense takes a hit against RH, but should be same or better against LH.
Bench Robert against certain RH. He shouldn’t be worn down/injured by playing 150+ games. Rest that bad hip.
After some time in AAA bring up the better of the two outfield prospects. Play them when Roberts is sitting. They get legit playing time without the pressure of being a full-time starter.
I’m looking forward to Robert/Taylor in the outfield in defensive situations. It reduces the field Soto has to cover.
Could have gotten more if he had one leg and a team was hoping against hope it would regrow. You lathered Robert trade up for 2 years, sure his performance didn’t help, but now? And for zero return? Woulda just played him
I agree. Seems like the White Sox were better off taking a chance on Robert having a few good months in 2026 and getting much more.
CF is a tough position to fill and if healthy Robert offers massive upside. He probably won’t reach it and there’s an excellent chance he spends much of the year on the IL, but at least he has the potential to be a power hitting, base-stealing CF.
Whereas Acuna has shown pretty much nothing at the plate in repeated extended opportunities.
/to the tune of the All in the Family theme
“Mistah, we could use a man like Truman Pauley agaaaaaaaayyyyynn.”
I would have preferred that they keep him until at least the trade deadline. Getz traded him at too low a value, might as well have waited more…
You got to spend big to win big!
Worked for the Angels
Damn right
I hope Robert’s hits 50 HR for Mets. Not gonna become a Mets fan but would love Robert’s to show the critics
its wild that this is the deal it took them ~2 years to finalize.
Who’s the Mets’ 1B?
I believe it’s still Ed Kranepool.
GarryHarris;
Probably Polanco and Baty.
Whenever I have trouble getting to sleep, I look up the current White Sox team and also the team’s long history. The yawns soon come. The Z’s soon follow.
Acuna will be a nice project for base running coach José Leger and hitting coach Derek Shomon.
Ozzie G vouched for this kid. He’s controllable for 5 years. Robert may help NY go to the World Series, so it may feel like a loss- but in the long view, Acuna may pan out quite nicely.