Inside The Mets

Mets 'Seriously' Listened to Trade Deadline Offers For Surging Top Prospect

The New York Mets nearly sent their September superhero away at this year's trade deadline.

Grant Young

Sep 18, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets shortstop Luisangel Acuna (2) reacts after striking out during the third inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Sep 18, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets shortstop Luisangel Acuna (2) reacts after striking out during the third inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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While the injury-related absence of New York Mets superstar Francisco Lindor has been concerning, the Mets' offense has barely skipped a beat since he has been out; largely due to the performance of Luisangel Acuña.

Since arriving in New York on September 14, the 22-year-old top prospect has produced a .375 batting average, a whopping 1.175 OPS, 3 home runs, and 6 RBIs.

And Acuña's impact hasn't just been felt at the plate, as he has also performed well at shortstop in Lindor's stead.

Acuña came to the Mets from the Texas Rangers at the 2023 trade deadline, in a deal that sent three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer back to Texas.

While this deal has since worked wonders for New York, a September 24 article from the New York Post's Jon Heyman revealed that Acuña was nearly traded at this year's deadline.

"Rival execs suggest Acuña was the highest-ranked prospect the Mets were seriously listening on at the deadline," Heyman wrote. "Wisely, they didn’t trade him, and the belief of team execs now is that he’s a player who prefers the big stage, where they find themselves now."

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns electing not to trade Acuña (who is the younger brother of Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr.) proved to be incredibly astute.

Hopefully, Lindor will be making his return to the field if not by the end of the regular season, then at least before the NL Wild Card round, Yet, considering how well Acuña has been playing, there's no way they'll relegate him to the bench once Lindor is fit to play.

Mets fans are just hoping that they'll get to see Lindor and Acuña in the same lineup come October.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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