Freddy Peralta thinks he has thrown his last game as a New York Met, and he is saying so out loud.
The Mets right-hander told reporters he expects to be traded before the August 3 deadline after a rough stretch that has dropped his numbers off a cliff. Peralta is 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts this season, and he has failed to complete five innings in four of his past five outings. Over his last seven starts he is 0-4 with a 7.93 ERA. That is not sustainable for a contending team.
“I can’t hide that,” Peralta said. “I know it probably is, but I have to focus and keep giving the best of myself and if it happens, it happens.”
That is a professional response from a professional pitcher, but the tone is telling. He is not fighting the narrative. He is not campaigning to stay. He is preparing for a phone call that could come any day now.
The Mets have plenty of decisions to make. Ken Rosenthal reported that he expects the Mets to make at least six trades in the coming days. That is not a rumor. That is a signal from a very well-connected reporter that the front office is going to be very active over the next week.
Peralta is one name. Luis Robert Jr. is another, with multiple teams showing preliminary interest in the outfielder. Clay Holmes is reportedly more likely to be traded than extended. Catchers Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens could both draw looks. Outfielder Tyrone Taylor, a lefty masher who can play all three outfield spots, could interest a contender as a bench piece.
The Mets are neither buying nor selling in the classical sense. They are trying to reshape the roster from the edges, moving pieces that either underperformed or no longer fit. President of baseball operations David Stearns has been public about wanting to be strategic rather than dramatic. Making six trades in a week fits that pattern.
Peralta’s situation is a case study in how quickly things can flip. He was viewed as a solid mid-rotation acquisition when the Mets brought him in. Now he is a pitcher a contending team might not even want to use in the playoffs. Every start where he cannot get through the fifth inning makes it harder to justify keeping him around, and every start he does not make gives him one less chance to prove otherwise.
For teams looking at rental starting pitchers, Peralta is going to be available at a discount. Someone will take a shot. Reclamation projects at the deadline sometimes work out and sometimes do not, but the raw stuff is still there.
The Mets are trying to build a sustainable contender under Stearns. That means being willing to admit certain moves have not worked and cut the cord before things get worse. Peralta appears to know his time in Queens is running out.
The deadline is a week away. The phones are ringing.
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.
