After a brief moment of drama—what else is new?—the Mets have completed their trade of Max Scherzer to the Rangers. In return for Scherzer—who will have his remaining 2023 salary covered as well as roughly half of his 2024 salary—the Mets are receiving Luisangel Acuña, the Rangers’ #2 prospect per Baseball America.
The younger brother of Ronald, Acuña is an impressive prospect in his own right. He lacks a high-end power projection and has a sub-optimal approach, but has good bat-to-ball skills, excellent speed, adequate thump (think ~15-20 HR / year), and a defensive projection that should allow him to stick at shortstop or be a plus defender at second.