The New York Mets are ten games under .500, and the trade winds are starting to swirl around Freddy Peralta.
The New York Met are struggling, and trade rumors are surfacing. These two things go together, and they’re putting starter Freddy Peralta in the spotlight in a way that no one expected. Peralta was supposed to be the shiny new ace who would lead the Mets back to the top of the NL East, but now he’s the subject of trade rumors as a possible sell-off looms.
Peralta doesn’t want that. He was asked about the transition to New York after the trade the Mets used to acquire him from the Milwaukee Brewers, and according to a report from Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, Peralta was “all smiles.”
“Excellent,” Peralta said. “Everything has been great, comfortable, thank God. I think everything was really easy to adapt to here.”
Peralta’s ERA is 3.12, but his other metrics are down slightly. This isn’t what the Mets had in mind when they acquired the pitcher who won 17 games for the Brewers last year, and so far he’s been an above-average starter who’s also a “five and dive” hurler who can’t get through the lineup more than twice.
Manager Carlos Mendoza says he’s pleased with Peralta, but that’s what he’s getting paid to say. Mendoza still has a job because he’s been backing his stars, at least he was until a couple of weeks ago when the obvious reality of just how bad the Mets were finally hit home. He issued a similar mantra when he was asked if Peralta was what the Mets expected so far.
“100 percent. That and more,” Mendoza said. “It’s not just the competitor, the pitcher we see on the mound, but what he does in the clubhouse, the joy, the vibe he brings. There’s always a smile.
“He’s really consistent and a hard worker. Really, everything they told me about him when we made the trade has been true … not only the quality pitcher, but the quality human being.”
The mutual love is laudatory, but it ignores the reality of the Mets’ situation. The Mets are 15-25, and the first thing Peralta did when he first arrived in New York was start angling for a big extension. If the Mets are still ten games under .500 on June 1, a trade starts to make a little more sense, but Peralta says he hasn’t considered that possibility yet.
“Really, I haven’t thought about that, because I have hope and faith that we can achieve a lot with the team we have,” said Peralta, who is scheduled to start tonight’s series opener against the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field. “I have confidence in the guys, and I have confidence in myself as well. I think we can turn it all around.
“I love being here. I’d like to stay here.”