It was easy to overlook the fact that the New York Mets traded for Luis Robert Jr. since they made so many other big offseason moves, but that did happen, and he's wasted no time when it comes to making an impact. Not only did he put together some fantastic at-bats on Opening Day, but he drilled a walk-off three-run homer in New York's second game on Saturday, giving the Mets a win they frankly deserved no part of.
LUIS ROBERT JR. WALK-OFF HOME RUN 🍎 pic.twitter.com/3kYwV3BTav
— MLB (@MLB) March 28, 2026
Robert is now 3-for-8 with a home run, five RBI and two walks to begin his Mets career, looking more like the player who received MVP votes in 2023 than the player who scuffled in 2024 and 2025. The season is still young, and the magic certainly can wear off, but for now, acquiring Robert for Luisangel Acuña and a prospect looks like one of the biggest steals of the offseason. These teams should regret letting the Mets get a potential star talent on their hands for virtually nothing.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Why not start with the team Robert just beat, the Pittsburgh Pirates? Robert would've helped this team out in so many ways. First and foremost, unlike Oneil Cruz, Robert has always been an elite center fielder. Had they had Robert's glove in center field on Opening Day instead of Cruz, they probably would've won that game.
Second, Robert is a right-handed hitter, which is something the Pirates really lack right now. They made their lineup more formidable this offseason by signing Brandon Lowe, Ryan O'Hearn and Marcell Ozuna, but Ozuna is the only right-handed hitter of that group, and he's a 35-year-old coming off a down year. Robert could easily be the Pirates' best right-handed hitter. Robert has always dominated left-handed pitching, which projects to be a major area of weakness for Pittsburgh this season.
The Pirates would've been better defensively and more well-rounded offensively with Robert. Instead, while they deserve credit for actually attempting to make improvements to their roster, they built an incredibly flawed group that is going to struggle defensively and against left-handed pitching.
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants entered the offseason with a clear need for an outfielder, and to their credit, they signed one of the best outfielders available in Harrison Bader. The Bader addition made some sense - two years of him came for the price of one year of Robert, Bader has been the more durable player in recent years, and Bader was coming off arguably his best offensive season. Still, it feels like the Giants chose wrong here.
While Bader impressed with the bat in 2025 and has always been an elite defender, Robert has also always been an elite defender and possesses way more upside than Bader does offensively. I mean, Robert hit 38 home runs in 2023. Bader has 88 home runs in parts of 10 MLB seasons. Bader probably has a higher floor, but Robert's ceiling far eclipses Bader's. For the Giants to get anywhere in a division that has the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, shouldn't they have aimed higher?
Early results indicate the answer is yes. The Giants have played three games and have scored a total of one run. Bader has gone just 1-for-10 with four strikeouts. I'm not saying Robert alone would've changed everything, but there's every reason to believe that now that he got his fresh start, he'll be a sizable upgrade over Bader.
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds were linked to Robert as much as any team in recent years, but passed on their chance to acquire him despite their clear need to upgrade offensively. Now, to be fair, the Reds did sign Eugenio Suarez, so it's not as if they did nothing this winter, and they're already very right-handed-heavy, but they also had room to add an outfielder and needed to add offensive firepower.
Despite playing half the time at hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark, the Reds ranked 14th in runs scored and 21st in home runs in 2025. Robert could have helped bolster that lineup even more, while being a clear upgrade both offensively and defensively over the likes of TJ Friedl and Will Benson.
I'm not sure the addition of Suarez alone moves the needle enough for the Reds to do more than just make the playoffs. Adding the revitalized version of Robert at a hitter-friendly park could've made the Reds serious threats, though.
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees chose to essentially run things back by handing Trent Grisham the qualifying offer (an offer he'd accept) and re-signing Cody Bellinger, but what if they traded for Robert instead? I understand why the Yankees wanted to run it back in their outfield - both Grisham and Bellinger were coming off great years in the Bronx - but Robert felt like a better fit.
Not only did he offer tantalizing upside for a cheap cost, but he's a far better defensive center fielder than Grisham and Bellinger, and he's also always crushed left-handed pitching. The Yankees are a left-handed-heavy team that could've used Robert's bat, particularly against southpaws.
Robert's $20 million price tag for 2026 isn't cheap, but he makes less than both Grisham and Bellinger. The Yankees could've saved money to add in other places, could've improved defensively, could've given themselves an opportunity to field a more balanced lineup, and had an easy out of the Robert contract if the trade backfired while having adequate replacement options in Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez.
Another big year from Grisham and Bellinger could prove Brian Cashman right, but passing on Robert could be a move he comes to regret.
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