Mets trade Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to Cubs for Top 100 prospect Jefferson Rojas

New York has a new top prospect after their latest and final trade before the deadline.

MLB

The Mets wrapped up their 2026 trade deadline with a bang, dealing RHP Clay Holmes and OF Tyrone Taylor to the Chicago Cubs for MLB Top 100 infield prospect Jefferson Rojas.

Rojas, 21, was the Cubs’ second-ranked prospect and currently sits at No. 63 among MLB’s Top 100. He signed as an international free agent with Chicago in 2022 for $1 million at just 16 years old. He’s had an excellent season at Double-A, batting .270 with an .800 OPS for Knoxville after initially struggling against elevated talent last season.

Rojas has shown an ability to quickly and consistently adapt to advanced talent despite his youth — he was the second-youngest everyday player at Double-A last summer. This season, he’s regained some of the power that was lost after his promotion last year (15 HR, 19 2B) while maintaining the plate discipline skills that he’s demonstrated throughout his brief professional tenure and staying steady on the base paths (16.4% K-9.0% BB, 17 SB).

Rojas is now the Mets new top prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

In Holmes, the Mets are saying goodbye to who was their most reliable starter this season before his injury. They signed Holmes to a three-year, $75 million deal last winter, seeking to convert him from a reliever into a starter. That experiment went swimmingly – perhaps David Stearns’ best value signing since joining the Mets – as he finished the 2025 season 12-8 with a 3.53 ERA while leading the team in starts and wins. He was even better in 2026, tossing a 2.39 ERA with a 1.10 WHIP over his 52.2 innings of work prior to fracturing his fibula. Now healthy, he’ll rejoin David Peterson as they look to bolster a severely depleted Cubs rotation.

As for Taylor, perhaps no other player in baseball boosted their trade value so significantly so quickly. After landing on the injured list in May and missing a month of action, he came roaring back upon his return at the end of June, slashing .354/.436/.875 with seven homers and 14 RBI in his final 24 games with the club. He’ll now be tasked with supporting a Cubs outfield anchored by NL MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki.

In a day full of Mets transactions and shake-ups, this certainly appears to be the most significant of them all…