In a rare positive moment for the New York Mets in 2026, it looks like they were the winners in their August trade with the Chicago Cubs after the Cubbies were swept out of the playoffs by the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.
This was a miserable year for the Mets. After overhauling their roster and coaching staff in the offseason, they entered the 2026 campaign with playoff aspirations. Instead, the club with the second-highest payroll in MLB ($359 million) was at the bottom of the National League East standings for much of the season.
Their awful first half was why New York was the biggest seller before the August MLB trade deadline. The team made eight trades and received 12 prospects back in the deals. One of those trades saw the Mets send starting pitcher Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor to the Cubs for Double-A infielder Jefferson Rojas. A player ranked in the top five of their farm system.
Clay Holmes and Tyron Taylor made little impact for Chicago Cubs after August trade
Holmes and Taylor were viewed as strong additions to help improve Chicago’s roster for a deep playoff run this fall. Unfortunately, the 89-win team had its doors blown off by the Padres in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. Losing 8-0 on Tuesday, then 4-1 yesterday, to get swept out of the postseason.
Holmes did not make an appearance in the series and went 2-4 with a 4.25 ERA after the trade. Taylor had a 351 average and .890 OPS in 82 at-bats for the Cubs but only had one pinch-hit appearance in the series with the Padres.
Holmes and Taylor not making a notable difference for Chicago in the second half has now opened the door to an unexpected question: Did the Mets win their August trade with the Cubs?
Have the NY Mets already won the August trade with the Chicago Cubs?
It’s hard to consider the Mets a winner in anything this season after finishing the year with a 74-88 record. Furthermore, their return in the trade for Holmes and Taylor ended the season in Triple-A. So who knows if he will even be an impact player when he reaches The Show.
It has already been established that the Cubs didn’t get much out of the deal on the field, and both Holmes and Taylor will be free agents this offseason. But that doesn’t mean the Cubs are obviously the losers in the trade. However, when you factor in how Rojas has looked since joining the Mets system, it is sure looking like New York won that trade.
As mentioned above, Rojas was already a highly touted talent. Before the trade, he had a .270/.339/.461/.800 slashline with 15 homers, 58 runs, 57 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases in 91 games. Then he caught fire for the Mets’ Double-A affiliate in Binghamton. Improving his slashline to 280/.336/.593/.929 with 9 home runs, 29 RBIs, 24 runs, and 3 steals in 29 games.
Rojas played so well that he was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse late in the season. Having a dip in numbers when moving up a level was expected. However, the 21-year-old continued to tear it up at the plate. Hitting .308, with a 1.037 OPS, 3 HRs, 7 RBIs, 8 runs, and one more SB.
At the close of the season, Rojas is now ranked as the top prospect in the Mets system on MLB.com. And some around the organization view him as a potential option to start the season at second or third base if they can move Marcus Semien this winter.
Obviously, there is still a long way to go to be completely sure the Mets won their August trade with the Cubs. However, a month after the deal, the early signs lean very heavily in New York’s favor.
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