Steve Drumwright

Image courtesy of Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images One of the best pieces the New York Mets had to move at the 2026 trade deadline is on the move. The Mets dealt right-handed reliever Luke Weaver to the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The Mets are receiving just one player, but it is prospect shortstop Sammy Stafura, who is the No. 9 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 25 by Baseball America. The Mets are also paying $2 million this year and $6 million next year on Weaver's contract, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. He is making $9.5 million this year and $12.5 million in 2027. There is due about $2.8 million for the remainder of this year. The Pirates were desperate to upgrade their bullpen and Weaver certainly does that. Weaver has appeared in 42 games and 44 innings this year, with a 2.82 FIP (1.84 ERA), having walk rate of 6.5% and a strikeout rate of 26.6%. Stafura is 21 years old and was the Pirates' second-round draft choice in 2023 out of Panas High School in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. He has spent time on the injured list this year and had a rehab assignment at the Low-A level before returning to High-A. Between the two, Stafura has a .276/.367/.593 slash line with 20 homers and 54 RBIs in 60 games. While he has 30 walks, Stafura has a whopping 78 strikeouts, a 30.1% rate. View full article

Image courtesy of Dale Zanine-Imagn Images The New York Mets have made a third subtraction at this year's trade deadline, sending veteran right-handed reliever Huascar Brazoban to the Chicago White Sox for two prospect pitchers, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Mets are receiving right-handers Gabe Davis, a starter who is at Double-A, and Zach Franklin, a reliever who is at Triple-A. Davis is the only ranked prospect of the two, checking in at No. 18 for MLB Pipeline and No. 20 for Baseball America. Brazoban joins left-handed reliever A.J. Minter (Minnesota Twins) and right-handed starter Freddy Peralta (Tampa Bay Rays) as being dealt from this year's disappointing roster. The 36-year-old is having perhaps the best season of his five-year career with a 3.37 FIP (2.61 ERA) in 51⅔ innings over 45 appearances, with a walk rate of 10.8% and a strikeout rate of 23.2%. Davis, a 6-foot-9, 234-pounder who was drafted in the fifth round in 2025 out of Oklahoma State, is 23 years old and started the year at High-A. After posting a 2.63 ERA in eight starts and 27⅓ innings with a 6.4% walk rate and 30.3% strikeout rate, he was bumped up to Double-A, where he has made 10 starts, but struggled to an 8.31 ERA over 34⅔ innings, walking 10.2% of batters and striking out 22.3%. He did not pitch after being drafted last year, so this is his first year in pro ball. The 27-year-old Franklin was a 10th-round selection in 2023 out of Missouri. He has spent the entire season at Triple-A, making 33 appearances and pitching 45⅓ innings, with an ERA of 4.37 with five saves. He has a 7.5% walk rate and 32.1 strikeout rate. In 129 games over four minor-league seasons, Franklin has a 3.46 ERA. In the three trades thus far, the Mets have acquired four position players and three pitchers. View full article

Image courtesy of Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images The New York Mets have officially moved on from Freddy Peralta, trading the right-handed starter to the Tampa Bay Rays, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Mets are receiving High-A outfielder Aidan Smith, Double-A right-handed starter Gary Gill Hill and Double-A second baseman Emilien Pitre from the Rays. Smith is the No. 15 prospect by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, Gill Hill No. 26 by MLB Pipeline and No. 27 by Baseball America and Pitre No. 27 by MLB Pipeline and unranked by Baseball America. The Rays have one of the better farm systems in baseball. Peralta is making $8 million this season and is leaving the last-place Mets to join the AL East-leading Rays. The Rays will be covering the remaining $2.375 million of Peralta's salary. Peralta, who was acquired by the Mets from the Milwaukee Brewers along with right-hander Tobias Myers for infielder-outfielder Jett Williams and right-handed starter Brandon Sproat, is a free agent at the end of the season. Peralta had a disappointing tenure with the Mets. In 22 starts, he had a 4.45 FIP (4.99 ERA) with a 9.4% walk rate and 22.1% strikeout rate. His strikeout rate is the worst of his career, a surprise for someone once known as Fastball Freddy. Smith just turned 22 and was acquired by the Rays from the Seattle Mariners in the Randy Arozarena trade in 2024. He has a .209/.281/.392 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs in 59 games across three levels, including 49 at High-A. His season did not begin until May due to a hamstring injury. He was a fourth-round draft choice in 2023 out of Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas. Gill Hill is 21 and was a sixth-round draft pick of the Rays in 2022 out of a high school in Somers, N.Y. He has made 20 starts this season, including 15 at Double-A, posting a 4.90 ERA in 108⅓ innings, with a very good 5% walk rate and a below-average 18.9% strikeout rate. Gill Hill pitched for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic, appearing in two games. Pitre is a 23-year-old Canadian who was the Rays' second-round pick in 2024 out of Kentucky. He also has split time between High-A and Double-A, putting up a .308/.438/.447 slash line with five homers, 46 RBIs and 32 stolen bases in 88 games. View full article

With New York Mets right-handed starter Freddy Peralta set to depart, the only question is where he will land. Among the latest destinations to perk up is the Tampa Bay Rays, who lead the AL East. Robert Murray of FanSided said the Rays are looking for rental starting pitchers. One of those is the prize of this year's trade deadline, two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers, while Peralta is one of the other options for the Rays. Peralta, who was scratched from his scheduled start Friday due to Monday's trade deadline, is making a very affordable $8 million this season, of which the acquiring team would be taking on about $2.35 million. Murray also included names of seven other rental starters, led by Clay Holmes, Peralta's Mets teammate, and Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays. The 30-year-old Peralta has had a disappointing season for the Mets after being acquired in a high-profile trade from the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason. He has a 4.45 FIP (4.99 ERA) in 22 starts with 9.4% walk rate and 22.1% strikeout rate. View full rumor

While the New York Mets can't get rid of Freddy Peralta fast enough, other teams see the right-handed starter as someone who can be fixed before the postseason. At least that is the opinion of several executives who spoke with The Athletic's Will Sammon. From Sammon's piece, which was published Wednesday: "Multiple evaluators who scouted Peralta’s most recent outings reported no questions about his stuff or health. Execution and controlling counts, however, are problems. Compared to his previous seasons, Peralta is losing early count leverage more often, and it’s hurting him. "Whether it’s arrogance, desperation, a commentary on modern pitching or a combination of all three, high-ranking officials from multiple teams see Peralta as a puzzle they can solve with usage changes or pitch shape adjustments." Others feel it might not be quite so simple to correct the problems afflicting Peralta, who has a 4.47 FIP (4.99 ERA) and posting a 3.64 FIP (2.70 ERA) last year with the Milwaukee Brewers. "Beyond that, though, as the same evaluator put it, 'the metrics are the metrics.' And some of those metrics are not great. Peralta’s extension is down nearly half a foot, which is not something, generally speaking, that is easily fixable during a season. Peralta’s average velocity on his four-seam fastball is also down from 94.8 mph last year to 94.2 mph. Evaluators said Peralta can change some movements for, perhaps, modest improvements. But it’s tough to draw up a clear path toward regaining his fastball." Peralta is still a highly sought-after pitcher, although his performance with the Mets has brought on some questions that could linger into his free agency. View full rumor

Could the Milwaukee Brewers reunite with former ace Freddy Peralta? In the latest edition of his podcast "Sources Tell Jeff Passan," ESPN's MLB insider sorts through a bunch of names as Monday's trade deadline approaches and, when talking about Peralta, Passan brings up a potential return to the Brewers for the right-hander, who Milwaukee shipped to New York in the offseason for two key prospects in infielder-center fielder Jett Williams and right-handed starter Brandon Sproat. The Mets were expected to be a contender in the NL East with the addition of Peralta, but enter play Tuesday at 45-62, the second-worst record in the NL and fourth-worst in MLB. The Brewers, meanwhile, sit atop the NL Central at 66-40 and trail the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in MLB by one game. Peralta's 4.47 FIP is the worst of his career and his 4.99 ERA is second-worst behind the 5.29 he put up in 2019, his first full season in the majors. Last year, Peralta had a 3.64 FIP and career-best 2.70 ERA, finishing fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting. "He's been terrible and it hurts playing in front of a Mets defense that (has been bad)," Passan said. While also mentioning and then dismissing the Chicago Cubs as a potential destination in a discussion with co-host Richard Staff, Passan broached the reunion possibility, which would mean David Stearns, the former Brewers president of baseball operations who now runs the Mets' front office, would ship Peralta back to not only the pitcher's former team, but the executive's ex-franchise as well. "One thing I did hear this week, Richard, is that the Mets have been talking with the Brewers about Freddy Peralta," Passan said. "I don't know if that's going to happen, but it's the kind of deal where you see what they would get back from Milwaukee, considering what they gave up, is that a trade that David Stearns politically—already just getting fileted every time he's mentioned in New York—is that something he can pull off? Could he actually deal him back to Milwaukee?" Staff, a Mets fan, retorted that the conspiracy theories would flood the radio talk shows with the much lesser return for Peralta than what the Mets gave up. View full rumor

Brace yourself, New York Mets fans. In case you hadn't already. With the Mets entering Saturday with MLB's third-worst record, just ahead of the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal is predicting a massive sell-off by president of baseball operations David Stearns. The five players who Rosenthal, who writes for The Athletic and was said this in his role as a dugout reporter during the Fox telecast of the Mets' game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, said are most likely to be moved before the Aug. 3 trade deadline are right-handed starters Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes, left-handed relievers Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter and right-handed reliever Luke Weaver as well as outfielders Luis Robert Jr. and Tyrone Taylor. Holmes is currently on a rehab assignment after sustaining a fractured right fibula on May 15. ROSENTHAL_0725.mp4 "I expect them to make at least six trades," Rosenthal said. "You see Peralta and Holmes—Holmes has a player option, but he's like Shane Bieber from last year, coming off a significant injury, but will be in demand and is likely to decline that player option. The Mets don't seem interested in giving him an extension. The two lefty relievers, A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley. The outfielders, Luis Robert Jr. and Tyrone Taylor, and the big question will likely be not (shortstop Francisco) Lindor, but Luke Weaver. The Mets have him for another year. They want to compete in 2027, but the demand for relievers is always high." Rosenthal said that while the Mets would likely prefer young major-league talent in return, they would likely be getting prospects for many of the players expected to be traded away, with the reason being the players leaving the Mets are for the most part on contracts expiring after this season. View full rumor