The New York Mets traded for Freddy Peralta before the season.
The right-handed pitcher from the Milwaukee Brewers was supposed to be a huge addition to the Mets’ rotation, and in an offseason of change, an ace seemed like exactly the guy who would get the Mets where they wanted to go.
Instead, the Mets were trading Peralta away by the trade deadline to the Tampa Bay Rays.
New York had fallen flat, well short of expectations, and all they could do was send Peralta away for any value they could get in return before the last year of his contract expired at the end of the season.
The Mets are done playing, of course, but Peralta and the Rays are still pushing forward, and he started Game 2 of the ALDS for the Rays on Monday night as they took a 2-0 series lead over the Yankees.
It’s certainly been an odd season for Peralta.
Mets Struggles to Rays Surge
Peralta hit a wall in the middle of the season with the Mets, and it coupled with New York’s total inability to make any inroads in the playoff race.
That was enough to get him sent away.
“Peralta started decently with the Mets before hitting an early summer swoon,” MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams wrote on Tuesday. “The Rays picked him up at the deadline anyhow, and he’s played a big role in positioning Tampa Bay in its current place on the cusp of the ALCS.”
It didn’t make sense given that Peralta had been incredibly consistent in the last five seasons in Milwaukee, always keeping his ERA under 4.00.
And now with the Rays, Peralta is doing it again.
Adams writes that Peralta has only allowed four runs in his last 38.2 innings pitched.
That’s the kind of guy who will get a big contract this offseason. The Mets just aren’t benefiting in the meantime.
Freddy Peralta Contract Projection
The larger body of work for Peralta is still really good. That blip with the Mets will raise questions, though.
It’s that contrast that any team considering signing Peralta will have to make sense of.
“Detractors could look at Peralta and say his struggles with the Mets are a bad omen, whereas an optimist would say that was really about six weeks of struggles in the middle of a run of six otherwise very strong and steady seasons,” Adams writes.
Peralta is now pitching in the postseason with his future contract on the line. If it goes well, he could sign somewhere for a total value of more than $100 million, writes Adams.
“A deep postseason run would only further strengthen his case, but Peralta still has a chance at cracking nine figures if he strings together a few more playoff starts of note and rides his Rays momentum into the offseason,” Adams writes.
Mets fans will just cover their eyes.
Mets’ Freddy Peralta Trades Arrive at Potential 9-Figure Ending