It could be that the Mets decided they were simply never going to meet the Cubs’ price on Willson Contreras (in which case, maybe they just pursue David Robertson separately from here). Could be the Mets wanted a DH to platoon with Dan Vogelbach and also want a catcher. We’ll see.
But in the meantime, it doesn’t feel like this helps the Cubs:
Ruf, 36, is signed through next year at a $3.1 million AAV, so it’s not a negligible addition, even for the Mets (ever dollar they add is taxed out the wazoo). He has fallen way off this year, but still hits a whopping .252/.364/.523/151 wRC+ against lefties this year.
For the Giants, they get a chance to set Davis back on track, and pick up some prospects in the process.
This could be an issue/a bad sign.