5 NY Mets trades that would swap David Peterson for another starting pitcher

2) Nick Pivetta

I’m foaming at the mouth at this thought. The San Diego Padres are listening on Nick Pivetta who had an awesome 2025 season. The Padres structured a fascinating contract with him last offseason with less than $2 million paid in 2025 and nearly $20 million this coming year. He has an opt out at the end of the year. If he doesn’t decide to leave, he’ll have a modest contract for each of the next two years.

Pivetta had a 2.87 ERA last year and quietly finished sixth in the Cy Young race. He wasn’t a practical choice for the Mets with the qualifying offer penalty following him. The cost of two draft picks seemed steep for a guy coming off of a down year with the Boston Red Sox. He has actually had a career somewhat similar to Peterson with several seasons where he was moved into the bullpen.

If the Padres are truly motivated to shed salary, moving on from Pivetta makes as much sense for them as it does for the Mets to trade away Peterson. Each is movable, not under a long length of team control, and doesn’t damage their chances at competing too badly. The Padres don’t lose a lot in payroll AAV by swapping Pivetta for Peterson because of his contract last year. Every dollar counts and maybe there’s a way to cut the deal to make it more enticing for San Diego that involves cash.

Makes sense if...the Padres are able to add another immediately useful and cheap position player along with Peterson.