The final move of the Mets’ deadline sell off landed just before 5 PM yesterday, with Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor shipped off as a package to the Cubs. In return, the Mets received Jefferson Rojas, an infielder ranked 63rd on MLB pipeline’s latest top 100 and 99th at Baseball America.
Rojas’ overall profile is one of good tools, but not great ones—a bunch of 50s and 55s if you want this in the 20-80 scouting parlance. He’s a good third base defender who can play second, he’s got a good hit tool and a bit
of pop, and he’ll steal you some bases. But he’s neither a Gold Glove defender nor a standout hitter nor an exit velocity monster.
How you value this archetype of player is an interesting question, particularly in contrast to players who have obvious standout tools (Emilien Pitre’s hit tool, Sammy Stafura’s power) but also obvious deficiencies (Pitre’s power, Stafura’s hit tool). On the one hand, being average across the board raises your floor, and gaining a half or full grade anywhere makes you a plus regular. On the other hand, going from a 55 tool to a 60 is a lot harder than going from a 40 to a 50; players like Pitre and Stafura typically have an easier path to getting their weaknesses to a “good enough” level than players like Rojas do finding a true strength to hang their hat on.
This is not to say Rojas is a bad prospect—he’s a high floor, likely major league contributor on the infield in the relatively near term. It’s more to point out that a more modern view on prospect value likely rates him somewhat lower than his pipeline ranking might indicate.
As a return for the combination of Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor, this is a totally reasonable return. Holmes is a mid-rotation arm coming off injury with a player opt-out, both of which reduce his trade value. Tyrone Taylor, despite his recent home run binge, remains a 4th outfielder, and is nowadays one that you’re less thrilled to see in center field. Taking this deal is a better idea than extending Holmes (look to Sean Manaea for a cautionary tale of how contracts for this type of player work out) and is far more value than the QO pick the Mets might’ve received had they held Holmes and then let him sign elsewhere.
That said, you can’t help but wish the return had been a bit more exciting. Maybe the rumored Arizona package would’ve been flashier, or perhaps the Mets could’ve pulled something similar to what the Cardinals received for Dustin May and JoJo Romero. Chalk it up as another deal that’s probably fine but maybe could’ve been more.
We’ll have full grades for every deadline deal the Mets make once all the moves for the deadline have been made. Check back in for those next week.
