Whether Tarik Skubal ends up in Queens or not, the Mets are still going to have to think hard about adding another starter. They can piece things together with the arms already on hand, but the cleaner move might be the one that doesn’t come with a massive salary attached. In other words, they may need to revisit the kind of deal they tried to make with Freddy Peralta last offseason.
At the time, Peralta looked like the ideal target. He checked a lot of boxes for the Mets: real talent, a connection to David Stearns, and just a one-year commitment.
The cost was steep - a pair of top 100 prospects - but the fit seemed obvious enough that people quickly started talking about an extension. That part never happened, and in hindsight, it may have saved the Mets from a mistake.
Peralta and the Mets simply were not a good match.
The lesson goes beyond the box score. Whatever caused the fit to go sideways, the idea that coaching and playing in New York were part of it kept coming up.
Peralta had spent his entire big league life in one place before that, and life in Milwaukee came with a very different kind of spotlight. He was often just another arm in the Brewers’ mix, or even lower on the ladder.
In New York, the expectation was much bigger. He was supposed to pitch like an ace.
That kind of trade-and-extend setup is rare, at least right away. The Mets did it with Francisco Lindor, locking him up before Opening Day after acquiring him, and they also did it in one of the more famous examples with Johan Santana. But this offseason doesn’t appear to offer a candidate who fits that mold nearly as neatly as Lindor or Santana did.
Even with Lindor, there were questions after that first season about whether he was built for New York. That’s the part the Mets have to keep in mind: not every talented pitcher is automatically the right pitcher for this market.
Peralta’s success has come in small-market settings with strong pitching-development systems, first with the Brewers and then with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Mets, by contrast, are still working through that part of the equation. And at the time of the Peralta move, they were only two years into the current regime.
In Other News...
Mets Tried To Sneak Through Depth And Got Burned Fast
The Mets have been leaning on split contracts as a way to stockpile depth without tying up a full 40-man spot, but the approach can cut both ways. Christian Cairo was signed to a major league split deal, only to be waived soon after, and the Dodgers jumped in to claim him, a reminder that even the most back-end roster moves can draw interest when a player is exposed.
Kyren Paris, meanwhile, made it through waivers and stayed in the organization, which is the kind of outcome the Mets are hoping for when they take this route. The pattern underscores the balancing act in front of the front office: trying to preserve useful minor league depth while knowing another club can swoop in at any moment if the player looks worth a look. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Coach Connection Could Create An Unexpected Third Base Option
Si-hwan Roh is one of the more interesting names to surface this offseason from Korea, and the Mets have at least one built-in tie to the conversation. The KBO infielder has been posted for MLB teams, and his history with newly hired co-hitting coach Johnny Washington gives New York a familiar connection as it weighs whether there is any fit.
The appeal is easy to see, even if the path is not. Roh has been mentioned by some analysts as a possible short-term answer at third base, but his offensive profile and positional overlap with current Mets players make any move far from straightforward. MLB.com has also linked him to several other clubs, so if the Mets are serious, they may have competition as they sort out whether the connection is enough to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Carson Benges Rookie Snub Cost The Mets More Than An Award
Sal Stewarts win in the National League Rookie of the Year race left Carson Benge and the Mets on the outside looking in, and the result carried more than just the usual award-day sting. New Yorks outfielder finished second after voters leaned toward Stewarts traditional counting stats, with home runs and RBIs carrying the kind of weight that often still wins out over the newer metrics that favored Benge.
For the Mets, the miss also came with a practical cost. The Prospect Promotion Incentive program gives clubs an extra draft pick when a promoted rookie wins Rookie of the Year, and that avenue was there for New York if Benge had taken the award. Instead, the Mets are left with the reminder that a close vote can ripple beyond the trophy itself, especially when a young players case is built more on underlying value than on the numbers that tend to grab attention first. [Read more 🡒]