{"id":112604,"date":"2026-01-21T00:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T05:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=112604"},"modified":"2026-01-21T00:54:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T05:54:44","slug":"mets-trade-white-sox-luis-robert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/01\/21\/mets-trade-white-sox-luis-robert\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Mets Swing Late Night Trade for Luis Robert Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

A trade many speculated could happen this offseason has finally come to fruition. Late Tuesday night, the New York Mets<\/a> and Chicago White Sox agreed to a deal. New York is acquiring center fielder Luis Robert Jr<\/a>., while Chicago receives infielder Luisangel Acu\u00f1a<\/a> and right-handed pitching prospect Truman Pauley<\/a>, according to ESPN\u2019s Jeff Passan. Shortly after the report surfaced, both teams officially announced the trade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Report: Mets Swing Late Night Trade for Luis Robert Jr.<\/b><\/h2>\n

Mets receive: CF Luis Robert Jr.<\/span><\/p>\n

White Sox receive: INF Luisangel Acu\u00f1a, RHP Truman Pauley<\/span><\/p>\n

Mets Acquire Luis Robert Jr.<\/b><\/h3>\n

New York will take on the entirety of Robert\u2019s contract for the 2026 season ($20 million), per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Included in the deal is a 2027 club option worth $20 million, or a $2 million buyout. Robert is expected to slot in as the Mets\u2019 everyday center fielder, with Tyrone Taylor<\/a> likely serving as the backup or potentially moving to left field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now 28, Robert is coming off another down season at the plate, slashing .223\/.297\/.364 with a .661 OPS, 14 home runs, and 53 RBI across 110 games. Injuries have been a recurring issue throughout his six seasons with the White Sox, most recently a season-ending Grade 2 left hamstring strain suffered in August.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensively, Robert has consistently graded out as a strong center fielder throughout his career. Based on that, he has been elite, swiping 33 bags last season and leading the American League before the injury cut his year short.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond his defense and speed, the Mets believe Robert can rediscover the offensive production that once made him an All-Star. Back in 2023, he posted a .264\/.315\/.542 slash line with an .857 OPS, 38 home runs, and 80 RBI over 145 games.<\/span><\/p>\n

This trade comes just five months after the 2025 deadline, when New York aggressively pursued Robert before talks ultimately stalled. The Mets later pivoted to Cedric Mullins<\/a> instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Acu\u00f1a & Pauley<\/b><\/h3>\n

Chicago lands Luisangel Acu\u00f1a, who brings speed and defensive versatility to the organization. Offensively, the 23-year-old struggled this past season, hitting .234\/.293\/.274 with a .567 OPS, zero home runs, and eight RBI in 95 games. Despite the numbers, the White Sox see upside and long-term potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Truman Pauley is the other piece heading to Chicago. The 22-year-old right-hander was selected by the Mets in the 12th round of the 2025 MLB Draft and signed for $397,500.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A trade many speculated could happen this offseason has finally come to fruition. Late Tuesday night, the New York Mets and Chicago White Sox agreed to a deal. New York is acquiring center fielder Luis Robert Jr., while Chicago receives infielder Luisangel Acu\u00f1a and right-handed pitching prospect Truman Pauley, according to ESPN\u2019s Jeff Passan. Shortly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5706,"featured_media":112606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1071],"tags":[6391,3335],"class_list":["post-112604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mets","category-mlb","tag-luis-robert-jr","tag-luisangel-acuna"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5706"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112604"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112609,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112604\/revisions\/112609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}