The New York Mets traded away eight players before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, embracing their seller identity and bringing in 13 prospects.
The New York Mets began 2026 the same way it approached the trade deadline: offload nearly one-third of the active roster.
When the 2025 season came to a brutal and disappointing end, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns made it a point to focus on run prevention – prioritize pitching and defense to avoid another devastating collapse.
Well, that new-look roster performed even worse in the first half than New York’s 2025 roster did down the stretch and it resulted in the Mets becoming major sellers at this season’s trade deadline.
Stearns traded away seven big-leaguers over the final few days before Aug. 3: lefty reliever A.J. Minter, right-handed starter Freddy Peralta, righty reliever Huascar Brazobán, lefty reliever Brooks Raley, righty reliever Luke Weaver, right-handed starter Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor as well as minor league catcher Ben Rortvedt.
Minter was the first to go and was acquired by the Minnesota Twins. He made two appearances, facing just one batter in his debut on Aug. 1 before pitching a scoreless inning and allowing two hits with a strikeout on Aug. 2.
Peralta was shelled in his first start as a Tampa Bay Ray, allowing seven runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out three over 3.2 innings. His ERA rose from 4.99 to 5.37 – the second-highest mark in Major League Baseball.
Brazobán, Raley and Weaver have yet to appear for their new clubs. Brazoban was traded to the Chicago White Sox for prospect pitcher Gabe Davis (Mets No. 20 prospect) and right-hander Zach Franklin. Raley was acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies for prospect outfielder John Spikerman (No. 28) and righty pitcher Luke Gabrysh. Weaver was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for shortstop Sammy Stafura (No. 11).
Holmes will make his Chicago Cubs debut on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals, a game that figures to be a soft landing for a guy making his first MLB start since mid-May after fracturing his fibula on a comebacker.
Taylor started in left field and batted sixth in his Cubs debut Tuesday night, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout before being pinch-hit for in the eighth inning. He started in center field and batted ninth on Wednesday, picking up a single and a hit-by-pitch in four plate appearances.
Rortvedt caught and batted ninth for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, going 0-for-2 before being pinch-hit for in the eighth. He came in as a defensive substitute on Wednesday.
While the deal happened well before the trade deadline, the Mets and Cubs made another deal, sending lefty starter David Peterson to Chicago. Peterson has made six starts for the Cubs and aside from the worst outing of his career (3.2 innings, 10 runs), the former All-Star has a 1.84 ERA.
