Tarik Skubal is off the board, and that could end up working in the Mets’ favor.
The Dodgers landing the two-time Cy Young Award winner changes the rhythm of the trade market, because every contender that missed out on Skubal now has to scramble for the next best arm. That’s where New York comes in, with Clay Holmes and Freddy Peralta suddenly sitting near the center of the conversation.
Both right-handers look likely to move before Monday’s deadline. Holmes and the Mets let extension talks fizzle, and because he holds a player option for next season that he will almost certainly decline, he’s a rental. Peralta is also on an expiring deal and is headed toward free agency this winter, which puts him in the same short-term bucket for any team hunting rotation help.
The Skubal deal may be the one that finally opens things up across the league. Once one big starter comes off the board, the rest of the market tends to follow, and the next tier of arms - including Holmes and Peralta - becomes even more valuable to buyers trying to patch a hole or upgrade an already strong staff.
For the Mets, that’s the leverage point. They need to move both pitchers, but the desperation around the league for starting pitching gives them a chance to push the return higher.
Holmes should be the more valuable piece. Before a comebacker in May fractured his fibula, he was dealing like an ace with a 2.39 ERA. He also brings something a lot of clubs want this time of year: a proven track record in New York and a higher floor than most trade candidates, especially after making the transition from the bullpen to starting with the Mets last year.
Some teams may hesitate to deal for a pitcher currently on the injured list, but Holmes sounds ready to go. That was the message he gave reporters in the Mets’ clubhouse on Saturday.
Even so, New York still has him lined up for another rehab start with its High-A affiliate in Brooklyn on Sunday, unless trade talks heat up enough to change the plan. If a deal gets close, he’d be scratched immediately.
Peralta’s situation took a turn on Friday, when he was pulled from his scheduled start against the Marlins at Citi Field. The move didn’t mean a trade had happened, but it did show how seriously the Mets are treating the market. With interest rising, the team didn’t want to risk an injury and also wanted to keep him fresh for whichever club lands him.
Peralta hasn’t delivered what the Mets expected when they acquired him from the Brewers this past winter. They believed they were getting an ace, and this season hasn’t matched that billing. Still, rival teams will look at what he did in Milwaukee and convince themselves that version of him can still show up down the stretch.
The Dodgers paid a steep price to pry Skubal out of Detroit, sending a package that included two Top 100 prospects in Zyhir Hope, MLB Pipeline’s No. 25 prospect, and River Ryan, No. 68, plus Brady Smith, the Dodgers’ No. 17 prospect. The Mets won’t get that kind of haul for Holmes or Peralta, but the size of that return still matters.
It gives New York a benchmark, and in Peralta’s case, the reported asking price is already a top-100 prospect. Holmes would have to bring back even more.
And Holmes and Peralta aren’t the only names the Mets could move. After sending reliever A.J.
Minter to the Twins, Brooks Raley looks like the next lefty to go. Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazobán have also been part of trade chatter all week.
There’s movement brewing on the position-player side too. Outfielders Tyrone Taylor and Luis Robert Jr. are names to watch, and Taylor in particular has been on a tear. He’s hit seven home runs in his last 41 at-bats and is batting .354 with a 1.311 OPS since coming off the injured list in late June.
In Other News...
Mets Just Sent A Bigger Trade Deadline Message Than Fans Expected
The Mets continued to reshape their roster ahead of the trade deadline by moving reliever Huascar Brazobn, a pitcher who still had three seasons left on his contract, in a deal with the White Sox. In return, New York picked up two minor league arms, Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin, both prospects with limited major league experience.
It is the kind of swap that says plenty about where the club is headed right now. Brazobn had been part of the bullpen picture, but the Mets chose to turn a controllable arm into younger pitching depth as they keep working through deadline decisions, and the next moves will say even more about how aggressively they plan to retool. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Deadline Catching Move Could Signal Something Bigger
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For New York, the deal is notable not just for the arm coming back, but for what it says about how the front office viewed the rest of the market. Rortvedts value to the Dodgers was rooted in his familiarity with the club and the stability he provided during last years injury-hit stretch, and moving him now suggests the Mets were willing to turn a useful depth piece into a return they felt better matched their needs down the stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Deadline Purge Is Already Hitting Familiar Names
The Mets' deadline reshuffling has already started to put a familiar feel to the churn, with the front office turning over pieces and bringing in prospect capital as the trade market heats up across the league. New York sent Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays and moved Huascar Brazobn to the Chicago White Sox, part of a broader stretch of deadline activity that saw clubs around baseball making their own swaps and roster changes before the clock runs out.
On the roster side, the Mets also made room by promoting Robert Stock and Bryce Conley while designating Kevin Herget and MJ Melendez for assignment. For a team trying to thread the needle between present depth and future value, these are the kinds of decisions that can reshape the bullpen and the organizational picture in a hurry, even if the final ripple from this purge is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]