Early Impressions of Mets' Biggest Trade Deadline Acquisitions: Jefferson Rojas, Billy Amick, and Emilien Pitre

We're now more than two weeks removed from the MLB trade deadline, and the New York Mets organization is making aggressive moves with two of the prospects it acquired in its summer sell-off. Interestingly, the prospect you’d most expect to be moving up didn’t.

The Mets promoted infielders Billy Amick and Emilien Pitre from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse on Monday. Infielder Jefferson Rojas, the top-100 player acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the Clay Holmes-Tyrone Taylor deal, stayed at Binghamton. Age had to play a role in the decision: Amick and Pitre are 23 and have major college experience, while Rojas is a 21-year-old international signee.

New York acquired 11 minor-leaguers in the six trades they made over a 72-hour period at the start of August. Grand Central Mets offers initial impressions of these three, the most advanced hitters of the group:

Jefferson Rojas

Rojas has been merely a cog in Binghamton’s offensive machine, but he's not slowing it down. He’s slashing .263/.333/.447 (106 wRC+) after 10 games, with a home run and four extra-base hits. Three of those XBHs came in one game. While the slug may be spotty, it's real. Rojas has produced 16 home runs and 39 extra-base hits in 101 games between Binghamton and Double-A Knoxville, both career highs.

Another big plus: his strikeout and walk rates are both at 10.2 percent at Binghamton, in line with his career numbers. He has an 81.0 percent contact rate and a 9.0 swinging strike rate since joining the Mets' organization. As he grows and learns, his command of the zone should help him unlock more thump.

And he will need to find more, because third base is already calling Rojas away from shortstop. The Mets have started him four times at third and twice each at short and second since acquiring him. He played twice as much third as short with Knoxville this year.

For now, he’s forming a dynamic infield duo at Binghamton with Mitch Voit and giving Mets fans visions of a young star tandem blossoming in the next year or two.

Billy Amick

His power surge is real, but what's also clear is that Amick is a classic all-or-nothing slugger. He has unlocked his power in his third pro season after totaling seven homers the first two years. He leaves Binghamton tied for the Double-A home run lead with 30 total. His seven dingers in 12 games for the Rumble Ponies powered a .304/.396/.763 slash line (1.179 OPS, 199 wRC+).

The swing strategy is clear: lift and separate. He produced a 59.3 percent fly-ball rate with Binghamton, almost nine percentage points higher than his rate at Wichita. His pull-air rate with Wichita was in the 92nd percentile, according to Prospect Savant. Interestingly, his overall pull rate dropped sharply with Binghamton, from 48.1 percent to 29.6 percent, per Fangraphs, while his center-field rate jumped from 23.8 percent to 44.4 percent.

But more than any changes in his swing habits, we have to address the strikeout issues. In ’24 and ’25, he punched out at a 27.7 percent rate (95 in 343 PAs); this year, it’s 29.3 percent (127 in 433 PAs combined). At Triple-A, he’ll face... maybe not the best pitching talent in a system, but enough quality arms to expose him.

There’s no mystery with Amick: it’s the three true outcomes of home run, walk, and strikeout (32 combined  in 54 PAs with Binghamton). The Mets’ organization is challenging him to expand his horizons and shrink his zone in the final month of the Triple-A season. If he does make progress, he’ll make life more uncomfortable for Ryan Clifford, who’s sporting a 54 wRC+ and 38.1 percent K-rate.

Emilien Pitre

Saying Pitre is the anti-Amick is trite, but accurate. He struck out four times in 44 plate appearances for Binghamton (9.1 percent), and his .375 slugging percentage was entirely the product of a .375 batting average, because he had zero extra-base hits in 10 games.

But that contact is just too enticing. An 87.1 percent contact rate with the Rumble Ponies, which was slightly down from his 89.4 percent rate with Double-A Montgomery, is hard to pass up on. His 5.9 percent swinging strike percentage was higher, too, but it was still less than half Amick’s 12.6 percent.

And the quality of Pitre’s contact could not be more different. He produced a 54.1 percent ground-ball rate and a 43.2 opposite-field rate with Binghamton. He was at 52.3 percent ground balls with Montgomery. Both ground-ball figures are sharply higher than his A-ball percentages.

Then there’s the speed. His stolen base total has slowed at Double-A, with 12 in 47 games as compared to 21 in 51 games at High-A, but it’s clear he has wheels. Mets team president David Stearns reached for speed and up-the-middle skill in several deadline trades. Pitre was one of them, and his talents in those fields could land him a role with the big-club sooner than later.

Interested in learning more about the New York Mets' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!