NY Mets rumors: Price isn't dropping on .190 hitter with 8 teams showing interest

The fall of Luis Robert Jr. is unfortunate. Finally healthy in 2023 and an All-Star for the first time in his career, the young Chicago White Sox center fielder looked poised to reach superstardom. Now all of the attention he gets has to do with his availability at the trade deadline. Past New York Mets rumors of their interest in this .190/.275/.325 hitter are likely to resurface. For as poorly as he has played, one could make the argument the Mets are in a better situation with him on the roster.

According to the NY Post’s Jon Heyman, 8 different teams have checked in on Robert. Center field is a position of need for many ball clubs. It doesn’t seem to matter how low his numbers get, the idea of him is good enough for some clubs.

Mets rumors of a trade for Luis Robert Jr. don’t feel like they’re about to disappear anytime soon

For as painful of a year as it has been for Robert, he’s still performing quite well against left-handed pitchers. Slashing .258/.403/.484 through 79 chances including 4 of his 9 home runs on the year coming against southpaws, he is quickly developing into a satisfying platoon option. The troubling aspect is he’s accomplishing this as the shorter half of a hypothetical platoon while getting paid well.

In theory, the Mets could pair him alongside Jeff McNeil as a center field tandem. McNeil has hit .246/.338/.473 against righties, smacking 9 home runs against them up until this point.

Sure. That works. But how much do you give up for a player like Robert whose best abilities come against a smaller percentage of pitchers? The Mets are more than secure defensively with Tyrone Taylor. It’s the offense that’s troubling.

We can’t even look much at the center field numbers for the Mets this year because how much does playing a particular number even mean for McNeil at the plate? For what it’s worth, he is batting .345/.391/.545 in games where he is the center fielder. This skews any team totals because of how brilliant he has been at the plate in those games.

Even though 8 teams have checked in on Robert, with the Mets likely being one of them, it doesn’t mean the asking price is all that outrageous. Parents don’t rush to the store on Black Friday sales to buy the best item. They want the bargain. All it takes is one team in a more desperate situation than the Mets to overbid and eliminate them from the negotiations.