NY Mets rumors: What a Freddy Peralta trade package could look like

How quickly the national media forgets about what the New York Mets have done in the recent past. Ken Rosenthal made the mistake in late May of suggesting the team could be sellers for the second time in three years, completely overlooking the fact that they bought in each of the last two seasons. It’s almost as if everyone is waiting for the team to fail.

While some fans are holding out hopes they don’t become sellers for the first time in three years at the deadline, many have come to the realization they probably will. Freddy Peralta is an early headliner of some of the latest Mets rumors with speculation already starting as to where he could go and what the Mets could get back.

FanSided’s Robert Murray spoke with two executives about the potential return with some familiar comparisons to help us get an idea of what could possibly get added into the farm system if the eject button does indeed get pushed by August 3rd.

What MLB executives are saying about Freddy Peralta’s trade value

The first executive was more general, but gave comps many fans are familiar with:

Executive 1: “Either 1. A backend top-100 and a throw in or 2. Two top-10 org prospects. Would think of this similar to the returns of Luis Castillo, Marcus Stroman and Jordan Montgomery. Could also see a return like Corbin Burnes, but that was in the offseason, so he had a bit more control. 

“I’d probably put Peralta ahead of those deals (because of his salary), but that’s the general construct.”

A comparison to the 2019 trade for Marcus Stroman is the one we all know best. Anthony Kay plus Simeon Woods-Richardson went to the Toronto Blue Jays for what could’ve been a year and a half of control of Stroman. A pandemic ascended on the world in 2020, Stroman opted out of the shortened season, and ended up back with the Mets for another season after accepting the qualifying offer. It’s definitely a complicated trade, but two pitching prospects rating well within the system is the takeaway.

The other executive had quite a lot more to say:

Executive 2: “First off, I’d say he’s going to have more suitors than Tarik Skubal because of his prorated $8 million salary compared to Skubal at $32 million. So you’re going to have every contender in play.

“I think at least one top-50 prospect and more or likely two top-100s. I think a team like the Rays are a perfect fit with multiple guys in the 50-100 range. Don’t see them giving up Theo Gillen, but the rest of Caden Bodine, Nathan Flewelling, Taitn Gray and Brody Hopkins could make sense. A trade back to the Brewers could make sense with Stearns' knowledge of their system, the $ and prospect depth.

“I will also say this: The unknown of the offseason qualifying offers and timeline I feel increases the chances he could be dealt. In a normal offseason, I might think Stearns holds on because of the qualifying offer and draft picks. Also, the Mets could get a higher prospect because money is no concern to them, they could even pay the majority of the salary for a top tier prospect.”

The connection to the Tampa Bay Rays seems to make a lot of sense and with the Mets and specifically David Stearns making several trades with them already since coming to New York, you better believe it’s a good match. Even in instances where the two clubs haven’t struck a deal, they’ve regularly claimed players off of waivers from one another or snatched free agents. Craig Kimbrel was DFA’d and immediately signed by the Rays. Joey Gerber came to the Mets as an offseason trade. How can we forget the Rays falsely believing Cedric Mullins would rebound after such a rough time to finish 2025 in New York? 

They kind of like what the other one does, especially with pitching. Getting specific with some names gives us time to check in on which of those players we’d actually like from Tampa Bay who’d certainly like the idea of trading for a guy who wouldn’t cost a lot of cash.

Both executives are in agreement that Peralta should net the Mets at least someone satisfying on paper. New York lacks an abundance of top 100 prospects at the moment with only two listed by MLB Pipeline, one being the soon-to-graduate A.J. Ewing.

Unlike the last time the Mets sold starting pitchers at the deadline, 2023 with Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, this example of selling Peralta would be easier for Steve Cohen to stomach any financial burden. Could it make him more desirable than Tarik Skubal? In a world where players like Mike Tauchman have to settle for minor league deals, you better believe everyone is going to call up about Peralta because of the contract affordability.

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