Trade details: Chicago Cubs acquire RHP Clay Holmes and OF Tyrone Taylor from the New York Mets for IF Jefferson Rojas; Cubs also acquire RHP Ryan Zeferjahn from the Los Angeles Angels for C/DH Moisés Ballesteros and RHP Mason McGwire.
The Cubs were busy leading up to the deadline, and in these two deals they sent out significant prospects to get immediate pitching help for the rotation and bullpen, as well as a right-handed bat to help the lineup.
In the deal with the Mets, the Cubs get Holmes, who likely made his last rehab start Sunday as he comes back from a broken fibula suffered when a line drive hit him on May 15. Holmes will help further remake the Cubs’ rotation. He has been one of the best signings of David Stearns’ tenure, as the Mets correctly believed they could take him from the relief role he’d held since 2018 and make him a starter. Before last season, they gave him a kick-change, which has been an above-average pitch for him, and this year they had him switch his true slider into more of a hard curveball, which has also been an above-average pitch for him.
He’s still a big ground-ball guy, generating a 55 percent ground-ball rate this year, and he has above-average control. He’s bordering on a No. 2 starter at this point, and the only thing that has slowed him has been the broken leg. This is immediate help for the Cubs, and I assume it’s a rental as he has a player option and can probably double his $13 million AAV on the next deal if he comes back 100 percent.
The Cubs also pick up Taylor, a good fourth outfielder at this point who can back up at all three spots but isn’t a regular at any of them.
In return for Holmes and Taylor, the Mets get the No. 62 prospect in the minors, infielder Jefferson Rojas, who has improved his production for the second year in a row. He’s hitting .270/.339/.461 as a 21-year-old in Double A and already has 15 homers, establishing a career high again after setting one last season. He’s crushing fastballs and is having more trouble with everything else, with pitchers targeting him a lot with sliders.
Rojas has been getting more time this season at third base than shortstop, as he was never likely to be better than average at the latter position, and profiles best at the hot corner with a chance to be an above-average defender there. It’s going to be 20-25 homer power, and if he can improve his pitch recognition, he has above-average upside or more.
Moisés Ballesteros hit at every minor-league level, giving him value even though he doesn’t have a natural position defensively. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
The Cubs also sent Ballesteros and McGwire to the Angels for Zeferjahn, a surprising move given Ballesteros’ history of hitting everywhere and presence on top-100 prospect lists for several years before he lost his rookie eligibility.
He’ll probably just DH at this point, but I still believe he’ll hit for average and get to some power. Even in limited time this year, he has a 46.7 percent hard-hit rate and a 9.1 percent Barrel rate, both pretty strong for a 22-year-old without a ton of big-league experience.
Zeferjahn is an above-average reliever and has four years of control remaining after 2026, so this isn’t just a rental move, but Ballesteros should work out well for the Halos.