It finally happened! As the afternoon heat is beginning to fall, the New York Mets have agreed to trade Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to the Chicago Cubs for a singular prospect. Luckily, this is a good one.
Source: the Mets are trading Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to the Cubs for their No. 2 prospect, Jefferson Rojas.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 3, 2026
The 63rd ranked prospect in the sport, Jefferson Rojas is a 3B/SS we probably didn’t think the Mets could obtain. Finally, after a long day of waiting for the Mets to punctuate the trade deadline, they’ve added an undeniably top minor league talent and possibly their new number one prospect.
Before gushing fully, let’s grade the trade.
Give this Mets-Cubs trade for Jefferson Rojas an A+
After seeing what the Mets got for Freddy Peralta and Luke Weaver, we have to enjoy this one. Even if money is included of some kind, getting a top 100 prospect is a huge win. It was already borderline to acquire one for Holmes. Taylor, who was probably worth more of a random flier even with his hot peak, seemed to be enough for the Cubs to agree to part with a prolific minor leaguer.
Rojas is batting .270/.339/.461 in Double-A with 15 home runs and 17 stolen bases. He has split his time almost evenly at shortstop and third base. He could be a contender down the road at second base.
Not lost on anyone is the 2-for-1 aspect of the deal. Mirroring the notorious Pete Crow-Armstrong trade in this aspect, we’re hopeful in 5 years Rojas is contending for the NL MVP.
Rojas is the right mix of ranking highly on prospect lists while also putting up the numbers to justify his spot. He doesn’t strike out much, fanning 64 times in 91 games. Already setting multiple career highs this season, Rojas looks every bit an option to join the Mets as soon as sometime next season, if not 2028 at the latest.
Where he plays is the big question. The Mets have infield questions at both corner spots. Third base would be the most practical choice in the immediate future with maybe a part-time role to begin. In either case, the Mets made the most of the Cubs’ need for pitching (yet again, the David Peterson trade was great to get anything from) and this latest one which sends two rentals away that they needed to trade takes the cake. David Stearns may have saved his final trade deadline grade with this deal.
