The Mets got Freddy Peralta in the offseason with the idea he would front their rotation. Ten months later they gave him away.
New York traded Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, closing the book on one of the more disappointing pitching acquisitions of the 2026 season. The Rays are taking on the full $2.4 million owed to Peralta for the rest of the year, with no additional money coming from the Mets. That is essentially a salary dump masquerading as a trade.
The return going to New York is minimal. This was never about winning a trade. This was about admitting that Peralta was not working in Queens and getting his contract off the books before it got even worse.
Peralta made 22 starts for the Mets. He posted a 4.99 ERA with 113 strikeouts in 113.2 innings. Those are back-end starter numbers for a guy the front office traded away Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to acquire. That is a bad deal. That is one of the worst deals of the David Stearns era.
The Mets were supposed to be a playoff team. They are 51-60 and effectively out of the race. Peralta was one of many things that went wrong. Kodai Senga has been up and down. Jose Quintana never really got going. The lineup has been shaky. The bullpen has been a mess. It has been a bad year across the board.
The Rays are the smart money here. They take on a controllable arm with a nice pedigree, get him out of a big market and into a pitching-friendly environment, and see if their coaching staff can unlock the guy who was an All-Star with the Brewers just a couple of years ago.
Tampa Bay is a real playoff contender at 61-51. They are chasing the Blue Jays and Yankees in the East. Their rotation has been solid but not spectacular. Adding a guy with Peralta’s stuff, even in a down year, is a low-risk move that could pay big dividends. If Peralta figures things out under Kyle Snyder, the Rays end up with an ace-level arm on a friendly deal.
For the Mets, the pain is not just about this year. Sproat and Williams were both top prospects. Losing them for what turned out to be a rental of a struggling starter is going to sting in the years ahead. Sproat is already pitching in Milwaukee. Williams is developing in the Brewers system.
Stearns has some explaining to do. The trade looked bold at the time. It looks reckless now. Fans in Queens are already frustrated with the team’s direction, and this move only pours more gas on that fire.
The Mets have to figure out what they are. They spent big on Juan Soto in the offseason. Soto has been fine. Everyone else has been a disappointment. The rotation needs a full rebuild. The bullpen needs help. The lineup needs consistency.
Peralta is a Ray now. He gets a fresh start in a lower-pressure environment. The Mets get a lesson in the risks of trading young talent for veterans who are one bad year away from becoming untradeable.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
