Cubs Have Reportedly Talked to Mets About Freddy Peralta Trade
The Cubs are the hottest team in baseball, riding a nine-game win streak that closely followed a 10-game run to push them into a tie for the best record in baseball. The Mets were steamrolled as part of that earlier streak, and they went on to lose 12 in a row before righting the ship. Sort of. They’ve gone 7-6 since and currently sit in last place in the NL East with a 14-23 record. If things don’t turn around by the end of the month, they’ll have to start selling.
Chief among their trade chips is former Brewers ace Freddy Peralta, who was traded to Queens for prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams. Peralta is in the final season of a seven-year, $31 million extension — it was originally five years and $15.5 million through 2025, but the Brewers exercised his options for the last two seasons — that sees him earning only $8 million this year. He will turn 30 on June 4, so there’s plenty of gas in the tank, and he’s pitching well for a team that has played poorly.
The Mets’ failure to sign Peralta to another extension means he’s probably going to be shopped, contrary to recent reports that he was among three pitchers they would not consider moving. That seems like more of a play to spur eventual bidding from teams that will be looking for pitching help at or before the deadline. Teams like the Cubs, who are clearly in need of some rotation help.
Bruce Levine reported on Friday that the Cubs are one of the teams the Mets have talked to about Peralta, and that there’s an internal deadline of June 1 for the Mets to either get back into the race or start selling. That was according to “industry sources,” but Levine subsequently clarified that a Cubs source told him they have not spoken directly with the Mets about Peralta. They have, however, “talked to many teams about pitching.”
It’s not clear which team initiated discussions, if they’ve even taken place, but it stands to reason that Jed Hoyer is staying very active. Not only is there familiarity between Peralta and Craig Counsell from their time in Milwaukee, but Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns previously held that same role for the Brewers. The connections are too strong across the board for the two teams not to have ongoing conversations.
I’m not putting too much energy into this right now, as it’s still too early for anything really splashy, but I think the idea of Peralta eventually joining the Cubs has legs. Even if it’s not a trade acquisition, he could be a fit in free agency. Hoyer has a lot of room opening up in the budget, and he could be losing three members of the rotation in Jameson Taillon, Shōta Imanaga, and Matthew Boyd. As much as folks are pining for Tarik Skubal, I don’t see the Cubs putting up the kind of money it’ll take to land him.
Peralta won’t be cheap, but his price tag figures to be much more reasonable. Like I said, it’s something to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.
