The New York Mets and San Diego Padres are teams vying to make a World Series appearance this season. Both teams lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2024 MLB Postseason and are trying to improve their lineup to make another run this time around.

Chicago White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr. is a player to keep an eye on ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline. There is quite literally no point in the White Sox keeping him on the roster, and a change of scenery is best for both sides. The Mets and Padres are two teams who could make a move for the outfielder, and according to ESPN, are urged to do so.

Robert Jr. is not having a good season with the White Sox, but he has the potential to be a very good player. Injuries have taken over his career, and he has yet to really play a full season in the majors. In 2023, he played 145 games, which is the most in his career by a ton. The only other time he played at least 100 games was last season in their historically terrible campaign. This year, Robert Jr. is batting just .177 with five home runs and 24 RBIs. His Slugging Percentage is just .281, and he has a WAR of -0.1. He desperately needs a change of scenery.

The Cuba native could be a great fit for the Padres. Bradford Doolittle of ESPN broke it down:

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“The Padres have rolled out a motley collection of non-producers in left field, which has yielded them an overall slash line of .200/.248/.286 with four homers at the position. Upgrade opportunity! Luis Robert Jr. might work if the Padres are convinced he has nowhere to go but up, as his .546 OPS is barely above that of the Padres' left fielders. However, A.J. Preller handles it, San Diego can't leave this hole unfilled.”

As for the Mets, they need a center fielder. Doolittle thinks Robert Jr. could be a good fit for them, and he would play on the East Coast closer to home.

“Center is an obvious position of need for New York, which seems like a great landing spot for Luis Robert Jr.”

It's unclear if the White Sox are motivated to want to move him right now, so closer to the deadline makes more sense. For now, the Padres aim to even the series against the Dodgers on Tuesday, and the Mets begin a series against the Washington Nationals.