A disappointing 2026 season likely leads to a trade deadline for the Mets. They are 15 games under .500 and have been one of the five worst teams in MLB over the past calendar year. It has already led to a change in management, but owner Steve Cohen says he has no plans to remodel the office.
The Mets made the most notable move of the early deadline season, a turnover David Peterson to the Cubs for first base Cole Mathis last week. They said that wasn’t the start of the fire sale deadline, but they have gone 2-5 since the trade. Peterson was the first obvious player to go — he’s a newly minted free agent that the Mets have tried to clear twice this season. It may take a miraculous July for them to avoid sending more players out the door in a few weeks.
As MLBTR’s Steve Adams analyzed the posts from Front Office subscribers last month, they’re not exactly overflowing with high-profile trade chips. Most problems fall into one of two categories: underperforming veterans with big contracts or young players who have regressed. There won’t be much interest in the former, and the Mets will need to weigh the possibility of trading lower players in the latter bucket. Even the Mets’ clear “big” trade candidate is struggling through his worst season in six years.
Record: 36-51 (3.2% playoff chance, per FanGraphs)
Sell Mode
Potential Free Agents: Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes (Exit), Bo Bichette (Exit), AJ Minter, Brooks Raley, Tyrone Taylor
Peralta should be one of the marquee trade chips of the deadline. He is an upcoming free agent with an $8MM salary who has been a top rotation starter for the past few seasons. The Mets have given away several top prospects bordering on the Top 100 (Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams) to find him in Milwaukee in January. They wouldn’t bring back the same amount at the deadline, but Peralta’s regular season would make him one of the best. Tarik Skubal ahead of trade.
If that’s the case, it’s more of a default than a representation of his current form. Peralta has been hit in three of his last five games and has a 4.81 earned run average through 18 starts. His 21.8% strikeout rate is a personal low, actually a league average for the first time in his career. He has a very difficult time missing bats in the strike zone and has a difficult time converting players to third.
Peralta’s record prior to 2026, affordability, and the high volume of needs around the league means he will still receive plenty of trade attention. As top taxpayers, the Mets will only get compensation after the fourth round if they decline a qualifying offer and leave as a free agent. They’ll easily beat that small amount in a trade, so he’s a near lock to leave this summer, but he doesn’t raise his stock every time he takes the ball.
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