NY Mets prospect from Freddy Peralta trade is making one offseason choice easier

A slew of New York Mets prospects will become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason. The expiration of the CBA makes it more complicated as there’s a possibility the chance to snatch prospects from organizations becomes moot. You can’t play the game that way, though. The Mets figured no one would take an aging Tom Seaver in the 1980s and lost him when he was left unprotected in the free agent compensation draft and snatched away by the Chicago White Sox.

One of those players the Mets will have to make a decision on came over in the Freddy Peralta trade. Gary Gill Hill, a 21-year-old righty from New Rochelle is up for grabs this winter. Currently only in Double-A, he’s not an obvious grab for other teams, but also not someone the Mets can be lenient with.

Generally it’s the toolsy players with some Triple-A experience, either a strong defender, fast runner, or a pitcher that can get stashed in the bullpen as a longman, that’ll get the most attention. The Rule 5 Draft can have a sneaky way of taking away talent other teams don’t believe in enough. Hill’s performance since coming to the Mets is making it an easy call.

Gary Gill Hill is pitching way too well not to protect him on the 40-man roster this winter

The Mets should have the room to protect Hill even if they find themselves making some tougher decisions. There will be obvious players to non-tender or release before any final 40-man roster decisions are needed. As hardy as their number of Rule 5 eligible prospects is (26 newcomers alone this offseason) we can’t expect the Mets to protect them all.

The Mets are certainly at risk of losing someone of value. A player like Ryan Clifford, struggling for most of the season in Triple-A, might be tempting to leave unprotected simply because the idea of him sticking with a major league team for all of 2027 seems outlandish. As highly rated as he was as a prospect previously, he hasn’t shown any bit of consistency in Triple-A. Nobody would rightfully burn through a 26-man roster spot on hopes of dreams on a one-dimensional power hitter.

Hill joined the Mets organization with a 4.43 ERA in 15 Double-A starts. Through 4 with Binghamton he has gone 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA. Not enough? He has maintained fewer than 2 walks per 9 innings (a quality he had with the Rays) and raised his strikeout rate from a lowly 6.8 K/9 to 9.7 K/9.

The last notable Mets player to get taken in the Rule 5 Draft and succeed was Mike Vasil ahead of the 2025 season. Although he pitched in Triple-A, it went poorly. A 5.30 ERA in 2023 and 6.04 ERA in a full 2024 season, this didn’t stop him from getting taken and traded twice, first from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Rays and then to the Chicago White Sox where he’d find success as the long man out of their bullpen. A 2.50 ERA in 101 innings is nothing to scoff at.

The Mets could feel the additional need to protect Hill simply for the fact they just acquired him and want to make the most of the return from the Peralta trade. That’s not a good enough reason, but the performance has been.

On Tuesday, the Mets get their first crack at Peralta post-trade with him scheduled to pitch for the Rays. Coming off of a strong 6-inning, 2 hits, no runs allowed performance, the 2026 version of Peralta feels due to break.

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