Now that the dust has settled on the trade deadline and we’ve had some time to reflect on the Mets’ deals, let’s put a grade on how well they did.
Revising our priors
We discussed what the value on the Mets’ pieces was likely to be in our trade deadline primer in the week before the deadline. By and large, those assessments held up and serve as a good baseline for what the Mets should have received, with two notable exceptions.
Both Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter returned well below what was suggested in the primer, where
I floated a lighter version of the Ryan Helsley deal from 2025. Upon further digging and conversations with other experts, that was far too aggressive a position. Neither Minter nor Raley rate well in either contact suppression or – more importantly – in-zone whiff generation at this juncture. Smarter teams were likely not valuing either as more than a 2nd lefty option, and the return for both players reflects that.
David Peterson to the Cubs
Mets receive:
1B Cole Mathis
Grade: A
This deal obviously came several weeks before the deadline, but it merits mention here as part of the Mets’ broader sell off. Peterson was absolutely terrible in New York this season, and that includes his peripherals. He was trending towards being DFA’d in order to clear room for better / more interesting / more long term-relevant arms. Somehow, the Mets managed to pull a legitimately exciting prospect in return for making Peterson available early, taking the risk on Cole Mathis’s injury history to capture the upside. Very nice move.
Freddy Peralta to the Rays
Mets receive:
2B Émilien Pitre
RHP Gary Gill Hill
OF Aidan Smith
Grade: A-
This is not a slam dunk return, but it’s a very nice one for what Peralta is. Pitre in particular has become significantly more interesting this year, improving his EVs despite no clear uptick in home run total (somewhat akin to A.J. Ewing in the minors). It’s quite possible the public consensus rankings are lagging behind a real improvement in true talent level. Aidan Smith might not be able to hit and Gary Gill Hill has an ugly ERA, but both have promising underlying traits of their own.
So again, not a robbery, but a nice package of players, and one that is indeed more valuable than what the players the Mets gave up have turned out to be for the Brewers. Not a bad place to wind up.
A.J. Minter to the Twins
Mets receive:
1B/3B Billy Amick
IF Bruin Agbayani
Grade: C
As discussed above, this return is broadly appropriate return for a reliever of A.J. Minter’s caliber. The shape of this return, however, is not something I’m a fan of. Billy Amick has far more name value than actual and isn’t actually much of a prospect. Agbayani is equivalent to your stereotypical, overslot mid-round prep pick. It’s not awful, but an interesting DSL flier (such as Jhomnardo Reyes, who was moved for 1+ years of Dean Kremer) or an intriguing traits arm (such as personal cheeseball Matt Barr) would’ve been more both better and potentially attainable.
Huascar Brazoban to the White Sox
Mets receive:
RHP Zach Franklin
RHP Gabe Davis
Grade: A-
Huascar Brazoban has not fundamentally changed as a pitcher, suggesting that his stronger top-line this year is more a small sample size aberration than a true jump. Getting a guy like Zach Franklin who has arguably better stuff and is a decade younger as well as a recently interesting college arm in Gabe Davis is a very nice move. There’s a reason the Mets linked up with the White Sox for this deal and not, say, the Dodgers or Brewers. Read into that what you will.
Brooks Raley to the Phillies
Mets receive:
RHP Luke Gabrysh
OF John Spikerman
Grade: B
As stated above, this is a fine return for what Brooks Raley is. Throw another interesting trait arm in the dev machine and let it churn, and add a gamble on an elite defender to boot.
Ben Rortvedt to the Dodgers
Mets receive:
RHP Chayce McDermott
Grade: A
This deal didn’t get a breakdown, but it was one of the better deals the Mets made even if it was a small magnitude one. Rortvedt is a 4th catcher the Mets’ had no utility but who is familiar with the Dodgers’ staff and clubhouse. McDermott is a few years removed from being a top pitching prospect and still has some crazy spin capacity. The Dodgers don’t have the playing time available to give McDermott the runway to iron out his control, but the Mets clearly do and he’s already up in the major league bullpen. He’ll either figure it out and become a potentially valuable relief arm or he’ll walk 8 batters per 9 and help the Mets’ tank – a win either way, and it cost nothing.
Luke Weaver to the Pirates
Mets receive:
SS Sammy Stafura
Grade: B+
Nice bit of work by the Mets here, and kudos to them for being willing to pay down some of Weaver’s contract to get a better return. Stafura has serious contact concerns that really lower the floor, but has the power, speed, and defensive abilities – as well as recent minor league performance – where you can dream on a really exciting player. He’s in the right range of prospect quality for a reliever of Weaver’s quality too.
Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to the Cubs
Mets receive:
3B Jefferson Rojas
Grade: B
Repeating a bit of what we covered in the breakdown, Jefferson Rojas is a decently rated prospect that I suspect is overhyped publicly. There is no standout tool here, nothing exciting to hang your hat on, and guys like that often cap out as second-division regulars. This is also a broadly appropriate return for what Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor (who remains a marginal platoon bat on an expiring deal, recent HR binge notwithstanding) are. Totally fine, no real drama in either direction.
Conclusion
The overarching theme of the Mets’ deals is that they broadly aligned with the value they should have received. Yes, that value was often a bit lower than what fans might’ve expected (who can blame us for having rose colored glasses at times?), but that doesn’t change the reality of how major league teams evaluate players.
There were certainly a couple nice wins. David Peterson returned a better prospect than he had any right to. Scooping up Chayce McDermott was a tidy bit of business. The Peralta return looks good. All of these wins were either marginal or in smaller magnitude deals, however, meaning the impact on the overall grade is not huge.
It is also important to consider the broader market context, against which the Mets’ returns again look fairly reasonable. Most starters and relievers of similar quality were traded for similar packages, and the Mets’ arguably did a bit better in spots by targeting less intelligent teams. There is one notable exception, that being the Cardinals receiving at least one and likely two top-100 prospects from the Brewers in exchange for Dustin May and JoJo Romero. Now, Dustin May is a more valuable starter than either Peralta or Holmes, but it’s worth wondering if the Mets could’ve snagged one of those top-100 names (Josiah Ragsdale in particular would’ve been very exciting) by packaging one of their lefty rental relievers with a starter and routing them to Milwaukee.
Dinging the Mets because of one outlier deal this deadline is a bit unfair, particularly when we don’t know what conversations were had behind the scenes or what preferences other teams had. However, the bottom line is that the Mets did not do anything particularly creative, nor did the score any huge wins. By and large, they got what they were supposed to.
Final Grade: B
