Struggling NY Mets pitcher cracks a trade deadline list that doesn't make enough sense

The New York Mets are looking more and more like MLB trade deadline “sellers” by the day, but that doesn’t mean they’ll look to unload all of their veterans. While it may make sense to move some of their top bullpen arms, or even Freddy Peralta, it would not make enough sense to trade David Peterson at this point – no matter what MLB.com might be suggesting.

In a recent article about players that could be good candidates for a change of scenery, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand listed Mets left-hander David Peterson among them. Feinsand cited New York’s demotion of Peterson to the bullpen and his “lack of a clear role” as reasons that Peterson could find a home in another rotation.

As things currently stand, trading Peterson ahead of this year’s trade deadline does not make enough sense for the Mets.

David Peterson’s trade value is at an all-time low

If contending teams look to the Mets for pitching help, Peterson would be near the bottom of a potential wish list. The 30-year-old veteran has a career-high 5.75 ERA through his first 14 appearances this season. Then, after appearing as though he had found a role through a few outings as a bulk reliever, Peterson allowed six runs in 3.2 innings against the Cardinals on June 10.

In addition to his poor performance this season, Peterson would be a “rental” for a team trying to acquire him via trade. Since this is his seventh season in the majors, the southpaw will be an unrestricted free agent when the season is over.

With a trade deadline in August this year, any team trading for Peterson would be guaranteed less than two months of team control. Add in his struggles, and that gives any potential trade partner only about eight weeks to get Peterson on track to help them in a playoff push. Would a contending team really make a dart throw on a player that is not a guaranteed upgrade to their pitching staff? Peterson’s ERA is a bottom-10 mark in MLB among pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched. Even his expected ERA of 4.70 is in the bottom 25 of that group.

The Mets would have a chance at receiving far better prospect returns with many of their other arms. Peralta and Clay Holmes, for instance, are tradable starters with much better value. Despite a recent rough outing, Peralta is still a top-end starter that would be a solid option to start a playoff game for a contender. Holmes was off to an outstanding start in 2026 before an unlucky injury. Both, like Peterson, are essentially rentals – Peralta’s contract is up after this year, while Holmes has a player option.

New York also has several top-end relievers they could move instead for bigger returns. Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter are on contracts set to expire. Huascar Brazobán, who has been a revelation for the Mets, still has three more years of team control past 2026 (though he’s 36 years old). And if the Mets were willing to throw in money to sweeten the contract burden, Sean Manaea is a pitcher that fills a similar role as Peterson: lefty bulk reliever with starting experience. Unlike Peterson, Manaea is both turning a corner with improved results in recent outings and has another year left on his contract.

David Peterson doesn’t need a change of scenery, but he might need better luck

A guy that has proven he can succeed in New York in the past is not one that needs a change of scenery to find success again. Instead, one of the real main reasons the Mets can’t start considering Peterson a trade candidate just yet is that New York needs to give him time to raise his trade value back up. There’s reason to believe that luck has not been on the lefty’s side much this year, and he may be able to turn the corner there eventually.

One of the most striking things about Peterson’s Statcast page from 2026 is how similar it looks to his career-best season in 2024 and his All-Star year last year. The 30-year-old lefty has always staked his success on inducing ground ball outs. This year, Peterson is one of the best pitchers in MLB at getting hitters to hit the ball on the ground: his 53% ground-ball rate in 2026 is 90th percentile. And while it’s a small step down from his 55.4% ground-ball rate last year, it’s a step up from the 50.8% rate in 2024.

What Peterson has never been able to do well is limit hard contact. Ironically, his 2026 hard-hit rate of 43.5% (21st percentile) is actually lower than it was in 2025 (46%; ninth percentile) and similar to where it was in 2024 (42.7%; 16th percentile). For three straight seasons now, Peterson’s expected batting average against has floated between .260 and .270. His expected ERA in each of those seasons has never been below 4.55. Thanks to the high ground-ball rate, Peterson’s actual batting averages against and ERA have remained low.

The difference in 2026 has been that fewer of the balls hit in play against Peterson have resulted in outs. His batting average allowed on balls in play (BABIP) in 2026 is .357, good for second-highest in baseball behind Colorado’s Michael Lorenzen. Most MLB pitchers’ BABIP allowed is under .285 this season.

One could attribute some of that to the Mets’ shoddier defense. Without Francisco Lindor for the last month-plus, New York has had to rely on the less defensively capable Bo Bichette at shortstop. Without a true first baseman, the Mets have rotated a group of subpar options at that spot on their infield: Mark Vientos, Jared Young, Brett Baty. And perhaps unsurprisingly, New York ranks 21st in fielding percentage (.985), 21st in fielding run value (-4) and 24th in outs above average (-11).

Notably, the spectacular plays from young outfielders Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing that other Met pitchers get to enjoy on the mound are less common for Peterson. As a ground ball pitcher primarily, Peterson is not helped nearly as much by the rookies’ prowess patrolling the outfield grass. Once the Mets are back to full strength in their infield (if that ever happens), Peterson may start to see his numbers improve steadily.

The Mets can’t be fully considered trade deadline sellers just yet

The final reason that Peterson should not have cracked that list is that New York is not out of the playoff race by any means. Even after losing two out of three games to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Mets are just 5.5 games back of the San Diego Padres for the final wild-card spot. As of right now, they also hold a hypothetical tiebreaker over the Padres after winning two of three in San Diego.

They’re also still missing Lindor, the heart and soul of their team, and have managed to stay afloat in the National League playoff picture with more than 90 games to play. Lindor’s return could help spark a Peterson turnaround as well as a Mets turnaround with still more than half of a season to go. If Peterson manages to turn things around, making his second half look more like last year’s first half, he’ll be a crucial part of the Mets’ pitching staff.

Despite all of the bad moments that fans have had to sit through over the last two and a half months, the Mets are still alive. And there’s reason to believe Peterson can come out of his slump. With so much time left in the season – and the Knicks proving in Game 4 of the NBA Finals that a comeback is always possible – ya gotta believe.

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