The Mets Just Made A HUGE Decision...

The Mets just made a major move as David Stearns has officially called up Jefferson Rojas to AAA Syracuse, making him just one level away from contributing to the Mets Major League Team. And for a team with very underwhelming results from their veteran Marcus Simeon, Rojas is a guy that can easily contribute to the Mets as soon as next season. What's going on guys, you're tuned into Mets Digest, I'm Josh Burn. Thank you so much for all the support, as always, it does not go unnoticed. And neither does Jefferson Rojas' recent hot stretch at the plate as David Stearns has officially made the move that many were expecting to see at this juncture. Jefferson Rojas, of course, was acquired this past trade deadline from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for both Klay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor. Klay Holmes has been the best pitcher on the Chicago Cubs during this second half of the season. He was the Mets best pitcher during the first half, and then of course he got hurt. And Tyrone Taylor has been one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball going back to his hot stretch, which boosted his trade value. But the Mets gotta have to return because Jefferson Rojas was amongst the top prospects in the Cubs system, and now he is numero uno for the New York Mets. And all he's done since getting to the Mets organization has been hitting. He has a 833 overall OPS at AA this year, but if you look at what he's done with the Mets organization versus the Cubs, he's been even better with an OPS well over 900. And Prospect Savant, a site I really love to look at, minor leaguers that we don't get to see too much and see how they stack up in terms of their peripherals, is showcasing that basically across the board. He is an above average hitter. The walk percentage is slightly below average, but everything outside of that is really, really strong. Especially look at that K percentage. The guy makes contact. He makes hard contact. He's got decent speed, good swinging decisions. He is an aggressive hitter, but he also provides pop. And we've seen more of that from Jefferson since he got acquired by the New York Mets, which is why he is currently Major League Baseball Pipeline's number 75 overall prospect, not in the Mets system, in the whole Major League Farm system. And for Jefferson Rojas, I have a lot of confidence in him. I have a lot of confidence that he's going to produce at the AAA level. He's not going to get a ton of time there to really see what he's capable of doing at that level for the remainder of this season. But I don't think it's going to take a long timeline for him to prove that he's ready for the Major Leagues because the Mets already have some questions on their infield. Starting off with Marcus Simeon. I mean, let's call a spade a spade. The guy has been just an absolute disappointment in every sense of the word. There was a lot of concern about what his bat would be at this point in his career. And unfortunately, he's done nothing to to dismiss those concerns as he's put together his worst offensive season in many years and his defense has taken a massive step backwards. Now, of course, Simeon is going to be on the team this year. He's just making too much money. And, you know, for all the disappointment that his play has provided with the outgoing result, I still think he is worth being a bench piece, being a veteran presence that can mentor some younger infielders such as Jefferson Rojas. But by no means do I want or expect Marcus Simeon to be starting next year. And with an underwhelming free agent class, it makes sense that David Stearns has his eyes on what the next generation of talent will be for the Mets infield. And that starts with Jefferson Rojas. It doesn't stop with him because the Mets have other guys waiting in the wings. But when you think about who has the most potential and who is the closest, I mean, Jefferson Rojas is right at the top of that list. You also think of Mitch Voight. You also think of Emelian Petrie. But Jefferson Rojas is the guy we've been hearing about all along because he was the number one prospect or close to the number one prospect in the Cubs organization. He gets brought over to the Mets and he's performing better than he ever has been at the minor league level. And so even if it is just a couple of weeks at AAA, he will be able to showcase, if he gets hot, a reason why maybe he should start in the major leagues next year. At the very least, you can expect that Jefferson Rojas will get an invitation to spring training and will have a legitimate shot to make this team. I mean, you look at Carson Bench and what he did. He didn't have a lot of time in AAA, but what did he do? He got an invite to spring training. He absolutely dominated. Yeah, he got off to the slow start, but he made the most of his opportunity. And Rojas has the opportunity to do the same thing. Now, I've also spoken about it on the channel, but there's another guy who has question marks, and that is Bo Bichette. Because even though his performance has been disappointing this year, there is a non-zero chance that he opts out of his contract. And if he does that, that leaves the Mets with yet another role to fill. And Jefferson Rojas is a guy who most likely will be playing second base more often than not, but he has the ability to step in at third base where Bo Bichette's been playing, and he has the ability to potentially even step in at shortstop occasionally. What do I expect to see from Jefferson Rojas? I mean, I expect to see him do well. I wouldn't want to overreact to any slow start he could possibly get off to at the end of AAA this year, nor do I want to overreact if he goes out and he hits 450 over the next two weeks. I don't think there is much that can happen that will change my view of Jefferson Rojas either way through the remainder of the season, because the sample size is just not going to be there. But the fact is, my expectations for him as a player are high, and I think he is relatively close to the major leagues. I think he is a guy who can come in, and maybe he starts off in the minor leagues early next season, but by the middle of next year, he's a contributor for the Mets. And yeah, there's talks about Hiroaki Saito of Japan coming over as either a third baseman or more likely a first base option. But when you look at the middle infield free agents that are going to be available in the major league baseball free agency market, they're pretty underwhelming. And when you have a top prospect like Jefferson Rojas, he has to be considered as part of not just the long-term vision and plan of the New York Mets, but also the relatively short term. Because we see teams get aggressive with their top prospects every year, and I don't see why the Mets wouldn't be in this situation because they have a window. And especially if they don't go out and bring in a legitimate upgrade over Marcus Simeon, which part of me believes they will, but another part of me believes that if they don't, it will be because they are planning on slotting in Jefferson Rojas into second base in 2027. But let me know what you guys think about Jefferson Rojas being the Mets second baseman next year. What do you expect to see from him in AAA? And do you believe that the Mets are going to roll out Marcus Simeon as the everyday second baseman next year? Because I simply do not see it either way. Comment below, let me know, and as always guys, let's go Mets.