The New York Mets might have to make a risky play at the trade deadline.
Center field has been a major struggle for the Mets this season, as Tyrone Taylor has had to assume most of the starting duties in the wake of Jose Siri's leg fracture. Taylor's a good defender, but his work with the bat has never been stellar.
Unfortunately, the trade market for center fielders isn't all that exciting. That's because the player who was supposed to headline that market has been a major disappointment for the second year in a row.
That player is Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox, who might still be on the move at the deadline, simply because his team wants to get a minimal return for him before he (likely) hits free agency this winter.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Matt Johnson of Sportsnaut predicted that Robert would wind up with the Mets by the Jul. 31 trade deadline.
"Coming into the weekend, the New York Mets‘ center fielders ranked 24th in OPS (.609). This isn’t to suggest that Luis Robert Jr (.196/,284/.341) is a guaranteed fix for that, but he is a low-risk, high-reward bet," wrote Johnson.
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"New York would have no long-term financial obligations beyond the $2 million buyout this winter. So, the Mets can keep all of their top prospects by taking on Robert’s contract with the hope that a change of scenery will unlock the hitter who averaged an .842 OPS from 2021 to 2023, thanks to outstanding power (.511 SLG)."
There's no sugarcoating it: Robert has been awful. But the Mets have to ask themselves this: for the rest of the year, do they trust him to be a better, more impactful offensive player than Taylor?
New York would owe the remainder of Robert's $15 million salary this season, so the minimum they'd have to surrender to bring in the former All-Star would be just over $7 million, including the aforementioned buyout.
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