Yankees should be thanking Mets for taking nightmare trade off their hands

The New York Yankees are looking for a right-handed bat to fill out the outfield, and while we saw them let a perfect fit slip away in Austin Hays, it has come to light that they nearly reached a deal to acquire another, which is part of the reason why Hays ended up joining the Chicago White Sox to begin with.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post revealed that the Yankees had been closing in on a trade for former White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. while negotiations with Cody Bellinger were stuck at a standstill.

"Their eyes are on a righty complementary bat, though if negotiations with Bellinger did not intensify when they did, they very well might have ended up with a regular righty bat for the outfield. Because as they were talking seriously with the White Sox about Luis Robert Jr., the Yankees near simultaneously began to gain greater traction toward resolution with Bellinger, who was their first choice. And in that period, the White Sox completed a trade of Robert to the Mets," Sherman wrote.

And we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Little Brother saved Brian Cashman and company from what could have been an epic mistake.

The Yankees almost made a giant Luis Robert Jr. blunder before the Mets swooped in to take that risk themselves

The idea of Luis Robert Jr. has often been much more exciting than the execution. The former top prospect had been on the trade block for the better part of two years, with the asking price at one point reaching astronomical proportions.

Robert Jr.'s 2023 campaign featured 145 games played and a .264/.315/.542 line with 38 homers. That performance was good for a 129 wRC+.

That's been the only fully healthy excellent campaign of the center fielder's career, with him playing just 100 and 110 games in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

When he has been healthy, Robert Jr. has struggled mightily to repeat his 2023 performance. He has posted identical 84 wRC+ marks the past two seasons.

There have been flashes for the Cuban-born slugger that showcase five-tool potential, but the prolonged dry spells between the intriguing flurries have been too much for him to overcome.

Robert Jr.'s contract status is also problematic. He's played out his extension, and now his future will be decided by a pair of $20 million options, the first of which was picked up by the White Sox at the beginning of the offseason.

The Mets didn't pay nearly what the original asking price for Robert Jr. was in terms of prospects, but giving up any kind of prospects for the right to pay $20 million to a player who can't stay on the field and has been 16% worse than the league average hitter over the past two seasons is insane.

Unfortunately, it's insanity that the Yankees considered, but thankfully were saved from by Cody Bellinger starting to come to his senses and the Mets' itchy trigger fingers.

The Yankees still need a competent right-handed bat for the outfield, but that would also have been true if they had stepped into the trap that is Luis Robert Jr.