A NY Mets-Phillies trade swapping Luis Robert Jr. for an unranked .883 OPS prospect

You can probably kiss the chances of the New York Mets receiving a significant prospect back for Luis Robert Jr. goodbye, especially if Steve Cohen isn’t going to pay any of his remaining contract. Now less than $10 million of his $20 million owed to him remaining, Robert is a somewhat expensive rental that teams would be taking a chance on.

An obvious suitor for Robert has developed with The Athletic reporting interest by the Philadelphia Phillies. They’ve gotten a lot out of Derek Hill, but even they need to realize he could be headed toward a collision course with reality.

A trade for Robert, which will cost them mostly money, should also come with the sacrifice of a well-regarded prospect performing poorly or a guy doing better than imagined. We’re going to go with the second for this mock trade which has the Mets acquiring a multi-tooled outfielder who may very well end up putting up some of the same major league numbers as Robert one day.

Why this trade works for the Mets and Phillies

The Mets don’t need to feel like it’s a must to salvage much at all with the Robert trade because what they gave up to get him was insignificant. Luisangel Acuna was going to head into this year as a DFA candidate. Truman Pauley who?

In this deal, the Mets acquire a 23-year-old left-handed hitting outfielder in his second year in A-Ball. He turns 24 in mid-August and should probably move up to at least High-A sooner than later.

Meet Nathan Humphreys, a .270/.394/.490 hitter with 12 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 24 tries. An undrafted free agent playing mostly center field this year with regular appearances in left field as well, he’s the kind of player you try to snag when you get a chance.

You won’t find Humphreys on many (or any) top Phillies prospect lists. In only his second professional season, he’s coming off of a tame 2025 performance which had him finishing with a .697 OPS. He’s up to .883 this year.

The Mets don’t gain a whole lot here other than a position player prospect already performing well. He might not factor into the team’s future plans, especially if A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge are indeed the real deal. However, with the way the season has gone for many Mets prospects, this would feel like a pretty solid addition.

The .883 OPS would be the third-best among all players to appear at any level for the Mets this year among those with the qualified at-bats. Rather than overthink things, the Phillies should sell high on a prospect find and the Mets should take a piece who appears to be figuring things out.

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