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Understandably, New York Mets fans assumed that the team's trade of struggling left-handed starting pitcher David Peterson to the Chicago Cubs for infield prospect Cole Mathis late Wednesday night signaled the start of a fire sale that pessimistic Mets fans have been expecting for weeks, if not longer.
However, Will Sammon of The Athletic revealed in the middle of the night that "the trade does not indicate that the Mets are starting a sell-off, according to people familiar with their plans who were granted anonymity so as to freely discuss the situation." For a piece published on Thursday morning, MLB insider Chelsea Janes expanded on the Mets' mindset.
"Trading Peterson should not be read as a sign of surrender, nor an indication that the Mets are now in full sell-off mode, according to a person with direct knowledge of their thinking," Janes explained.
"They needed to try something different in their rotation, though exactly what that will look like remains unclear.
And they liked Mathis, the 13th-ranked prospect in the Cubs system, according to MLB Pipeline, one Chicago was willing to give up after a stunning series of injuries decimated their rotation in recent weeks." Per John Flanigan of SNY, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said on Tuesday afternoon that he and team owner Steve Cohen were "going to give this team a chance to" play better before punting on the season ahead of the Aug.
3 trade deadline.
Since Stearns made those comments, the Mets have suffered losses to the Cubs of 9-6, 10-3 and 10-5 to fall to 34-46 on the campaign.
Perhaps most worrisome, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and multiple players sounded downright broken after the team lost both games of a doubleheader to the Cubs on Wednesday.
Star outfielder Juan Soto didn't play on Wednesday after he left Tuesday's game due to what was called "left side back tightness," and he could be headed to the injured list.
The Mets previously went 3-12 without Soto in April.
"Potential minor league reinforcements could include Jonah Tong, who is struggling to add to his pitch mix in Triple-A, Zach Thornton, who allowed five runs in four innings in his last outing, and Jack Wenninger, whose walk rates have deterred the Mets from calling him up sooner, even as his ERA and strikeout numbers look promising this year," Janes added.
"Tobias Myers has returned to his bulk role in the big leagues, but he has been inconsistent recently, too." In short, a Mets team that has no business giving up an asset to acquire a starter in a trade seemingly has no help for its rotation in the farm system.
Thus, it's fair that many Mets fans assume it's a matter of when and not if starter Freddy Peralta and other players not locked down via multiyear contracts will be made available to advertised contenders.
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