The New York Yankees have a lot of left-handed bats, but earlier in this offseason, they were seeking to remedy that.

According to MLB insider Joel Sherman, the Yankees wanted to trade for Chicago White Sox centerfielder Luis Robert Jr.

Robert is a five-tool player who bats from the right side with power and speed. 

The irony, of course, is that the New York Mets ended up trading for Robert to be their centerfielder.

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The Yankees then signed Cody Bellinger back. He’ll play left field, with Trent Grisham in center, both left-handed hitters.

It’s a fascinating alternate timeline to consider if the Yanks had pulled off a Robert trade.

One of the other main suitors for Bellinger was the Mets. Would they have signed him instead if Robert went to the Yankees? That seems like a logical sequence of events.

That also will make the season ahead fascinating to track. How’s Robert doing with the Mets? How’s Bellinger doing with the Yankees? Who seems to have gotten the better side of this outcome?

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Robert is currently under club control for this season and next, while Bellinger’s contract is a five-year deal. The Mets could look to extend Robert, though, if their partnership works well.

With the Mets now a big player in free agent and trade markets under owner Steve Cohen, this likely won’t be the last time that they and the Yankees are going after the same player.

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