David Stearns and the New York Mets hope the fifth time is the charm.
The Mets acquired center fielder Luis Robert Jr. from the Chicago White Sox, the team announced Wednesday, in exchange for infielder Luisangel Acuña and right-handed pitcher Truman Pauley.
Robert is the fifth center fielder Stearns has acquired in two-plus years leading the Mets.
Robert, 28, is owed $20 million in 2026 with a club option for another year at $20 million in 2027 (with a $2 million buyout). The Mets are taking on the full salary to acquire one of the game’s better defensive center fielders, whose bat is tantalizing and inconsistent.
Robert’s offensive reputation rests largely on a 2023 season in which he hit 38 home runs in 145 games for Chicago. That’s the only year in six big-league seasons that he has qualified for the batting title. His bat has taken a big step back over the past two years, during which he has combined to hit .223 with a .288 on-base percentage and .372 slugging percentage with 28 home runs over 210 games. He has posted an 85 OPS+ over those two seasons, barely better than the 84 OPS+ compiled by Tyrone Taylor for New York.
Robert has been a popular trade chip for the past couple of years as Chicago has bottomed out in the American League Central. The Mets were interested in him last July at the trade deadline before deciding to add Cedric Mullins from the Baltimore Orioles instead. That move didn’t work, as Mullins and the Mets floundered over the final two months.
Source confirms: Mets acquire OF Luis Robert Jr. for IF Luisangel Acuña and RHP Truman Pauley. Mets taking on Robert’s entire $20M salary. First: @JeffPassan
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 21, 2026
Before Mullins, Stearns had acquired Taylor, Harrison Bader and Jose Siri as center-field options for New York. Taylor has performed adequately as a fourth outfielder but has been pressed frequently into starting duty — first taking over for a slumping Bader for the 2024 postseason, then for the injured Siri for the majority of the 2025 season.
The Mets were desperate to add an outfielder, any outfielder, to the mix for 2026. Before the deal for Robert, which was first reported by ESPN Tuesday night, they had only three outfielders on their 40-man roster, including Taylor and Double-A prospect Nick Morabito. Though New York wants to give prospect Carson Benge a chance to win a job in spring training, it didn’t even have competition for him.
Now, with Robert in center and Juan Soto in right, the Mets have Taylor, Benge and perhaps Brett Baty as contenders for playing time in left field.
The return from the Texas Rangers in the Max Scherzer trade in July 2023, Acuña showed flashes of his potential with the Mets but couldn’t gain a foothold in the majors. The acquisitions of Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette further blocked his path to playing time.
A 12th-round pick out of Harvard in last year’s MLB Draft, Pauley, a right-hander, pitched 4 1/3 hitless innings for Low-A St. Lucie in his first exposure to pro ball.
