Mets smart to avoid trade for Luis Robert Jr., land Cedric Mullins

If this was All-Star Robert, who had a 5.3 bWAR in 2023 while launching 38 home runs and stealing 20 bases, that asking price would make sense. But the 27-year-old Cuban outfielder currently has a slash line of .213/.300/.353 with 11 home runs; Robert remains an excellent defender, but trading away that much would be a significant risk given his overall mediocre level of production this year.

As such, the Mets looked elsewhere for help and were able to land a quality center fielder for a much more reasonable offer.

Instead of sacrificing major league talent and two prospects, New York pivoted to making a deal with the Baltimore Orioles for Cedric Mullins. The veteran center fielder was acquired in exchange for Raimon Gomez, their No. 30 ranked prospect, and two unranked prospects in Chandler Marsh and Anthony Nunez.

The Mets were still able to take advantage of their deep farm system to address another need. However, acquiring Mullins at that price, despite him being a rental, compared to the cost for Robert, is another positive takeaway. The highest-caliber prospect New York gave up in their deadline deals was Jesus Baez (No. 7 team prospect) in the Ryan Helsley deal, and none of the prospects given up were going to figure heavily towards the team's future.

In the end, the Mets not only stayed firm with their price range, but managed to fill the holes in their roster with the additions of Soto, Rogers, Helsley, and Mullins. With a well-rounded team, New York is now ready to make another deep playoff run with the hopes of ending a nearly 40-year championship drought.