The Mets have moved on from Freddy Peralta, sending the 30-year-old right-hander to the Tampa Bay Rays in a deal that gives New York three prospects and gives Tampa Bay a proven arm for the stretch run.
Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported the trade on Sunday, Aug. 2. The Rays are sending Aidan Smith, Emilien Pitre and Gary Gill Hill to New York in the deal.
Peralta, a two-time All-Star, spent this season in New York after arriving with big expectations, but the results never matched the résumé. In his first Mets season, he went 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA.
Now he heads to a different kind of pressure cooker. In Tampa Bay, Peralta won’t be asked to carry the burden of a No. 1 starter in the country’s largest media market. He’ll join a rotation that already includes Drew Rasmussen, Shane McClanahan and Nick Martinez as the Rays try to hang onto first place in the AL East over the final two months.
Peralta’s track record with the Brewers still makes him an appealing add. From 2021-25, he went 54-34 with a 3.30 ERA in Milwaukee, and Tampa Bay is banking on that version showing up again as he enters the final year before free agency.
The move also fits the deadline market that’s forming around the Dodgers’ acquisition of left-hander Tarik Skubal, which became official earlier in the day. That deal removed the top rental starter from the board and helped establish the price for similar moves in the final 24 hours before the deadline.
The deadline arrives at 6 p.m. ET Monday, Aug. 3.
For the Rays, the trade gives them another arm to strengthen an already deep rotation and lets Ian Seymour return to bullpen duty. Seymour has a 5.31 ERA as a starter and a 3.81 ERA as a reliever.
For the Mets, this is another step in a sell-off that started when reliever A.J. Minter was dealt to the Minnesota Twins.
Peralta’s scratch from his most recent start made the possibility of a move easier to see coming, and the Brewers had reportedly shown interest in a reunion if the price made sense. In the end, the Mets found a better package from Tampa Bay.
According to MLB Pipeline, New York gets Tampa Bay’s No. 15 prospect, Smith, along with No. 26 Hill and No.
27 Pitre. Smith is a Single-A outfielder, Hill is a Double-A right-handed pitcher, and Pitre is a Double-A middle infielder.
Tampa Bay entered Aug. 1 with a 3.5-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East.
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For the Rays, the larger takeaway may be less about what the Phillies gained than where this particular player ended up. Arraez had been a name on Tampa Bays radar, and for a while the club looked like it had a real shot to bring him in before the deal swung in another direction. In a deadline market built on thin margins and fast decisions, missing on a target like that can linger, especially when the player fits so neatly into the kind of lineup the Rays like to build. [Read more 🡒]