The New York Mets have a stacked lineup, but so do most of the top teams in this year’s National League.
Everyone is chasing the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Mets have an axe to grind with LA after losing the NLCS in six games to them last season. Any weak spot in the lineup is worth improving, and the Mets’ weak spot appears to be in center field.
Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor may both be good defenders, but neither is likely to give the Mets any consistency at the plate.
And while center field doesn’t always need to be an impact spot in the batting order, injuries at other positions could prompt the Mets to swing big for a premier center fielder on the trade market. And there’s one available center fielder who stands out above the rest this season.
On Friday, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller listed Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. as a top-10 “trade chip” of the 2025 season, while naming the Mets among his potential suitors.
“The former All-Star (Robert) needs to re-establish that he can both play and play well on a regular basis,” Miller wrote. “Provided he does so, he’ll get the trade that everyone (including Robert himself) assumed was going to happen this offseason.
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“As far as a trade partner goes, the Phillies, Mets, Astros and Royals could all be in the mix here, given their respective center field situations.”
Robert, 27, is entering the final year of a $50 million extension with the White Sox, though he does have $20 million club options for 2026 and 2027. He hit 38 home runs with an .857 OPS in his 2023 All-Star season, but saw that OPS dip a full 200 points in an injury-plagued 2024 campaign.
If Robert is at his best, the Mets could easily decide he’s worth sending Chicago a couple of top prospects to obtain. New York is in win-now mode, so every addition at this point could be a difference-maker.
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