Forget Luis Robert Jr., this NY Mets player is raising his trade stock far more

Juan Soto’s 4 home runs and 13 RBI lead the New York Mets in July. He won’t have a chance to add to it. The fallen superstar’s return will take at least 4-6 weeks and maybe longer. In some ways the best situation at this time of the year outside of the injury, the team is able to showcase several of its trade candidates while also allowing Jorge Polanco playing time. Say what you will, he needs some at-bats. More importantly, Luis Robert Jr. is easier to insert with an outfield spot open.

Robert has homered once per series since his IL return. They are his lone two hits in July. A .133 batting average other than those bombs, his trade value is largely predicated on what teams believe he can do. Right now is a showcase of how healthy he is and the capability of swatting homers, defending his position.

Continuously, someone else is raising his trade profile. A 2-run double on Saturday from Tyrone Taylor continued a hot month for him. He has homered 4 times to tie Soto for the team lead in July. In irregular playing time, he’s slashing .345/.424/.897. As a free-agent-to-be, Taylor is a must trade and his red hot bat should be tempting enough for someone to make an interesting enough offer.

Tyrone Taylor is hitting his way up everyone’s trade deadline wish list

There are a lot of great qualities about Taylor. Defense, speed, and even in down years some pops of power, he’s an inexpensive good teammate many teams could use on their roster. He’s far from the missing piece as clubs would be fools to consider him an everyday player. In a platoon or as a fourth outfielder, you can do much worse.

In early parts of July, we’ve put together two different types of trade packages that make sense for Taylor. One sends him to the Milwaukee Brewers for a pair of younger prospects not much unlike the 2022 deal for Tyler Naquin made by the Mets.

Earlier in the month, now less tantalizing, we were mock trading him to the Seattle Mariners for a late-blooming pitcher. Those are the two types of returns the Mets could expect: some random help years down the line or immediate assistance on a guy near MLB-ready.

There’s no reason for Taylor to be on the roster as of August 4. He’s not a qualifying offer candidate. Failure to trade him, on an affordable contract no less, falls on the Mets front office.

Other teams know the current July version of Taylor isn’t who he’ll be, but after such a slow start, they’d have to be willing to acquire him for something. He’s the kind of guy you add when you have some doubts or a lefty in your outfield who can’t hit lefties. You trade for Taylor your starting center fielder doesn’t know how to tie his own shoes.

Pitchers like Clay Holmes and Freddy Peralta have been the buzziest to speculate about in a world of realism. Taylor has gotten lost and yet he feels like the exact type of player who could land on a contender and become a cult hero.

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