The Mets are willing to entertain offers on starter David Peterson, write Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic. That probably wouldn’t be for prospects but could be part of a swap for a player at a position of need.
New York has a question at first base and designated hitter with Pete Alonso remaining unsigned. Mark Vientos could step into one of those positions, but he’s a question mark coming off a replacement level season. With Edwin Díaz heading to the Dodgers (pending a physical), upgrading the late innings is a must. The Mets signed Devin Williams to give them cover in the ninth, but their setup group — especially among right-handers — isn’t good enough right now.
The Mets already pulled off one veteran for veteran swap with the Brandon Nimmo/Marcus Semien deal. That opened a spot in left field. President of baseball operations David Stearns confirmed on Monday that the club is in the outfield market (via Britton). They’ve been speculated more as a free agent suitor for Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger, but they’re presumably open to adding to the outfield in trade.
All that said, it’s not as if the Mets have a lockdown rotation. It’s a talented group but one without much certainty. Nolan McLean, who has made all of eight career starts, would probably have gotten the ball in Game 1 of a playoff series had they not collapsed in September. Peterson was their most reliable starter overall, though his terrible second half was part of the reason that New York squandered a playoff berth.
The 30-year-old southpaw carried a 3.06 earned run average into the All-Star Break. He allows 6.34 earned runs per nine in the second half, including 18 runs across 16 2/3 frames in September. A lot of that is attributable to a spike in his batting average allowed on balls in play, but Peterson’s walk rate jumped in August and his strikeouts plummeted in the season’s final month.
It was still a solid performance in aggregate. The former first-rounder turned in a 4.22 ERA across a team-leading 168 2/3 innings. He got ground-balls at a very high 54.7% clip while slightly worse than average strikeout and walk numbers. Peterson’s performance has been up-and-down over the course of his career, but he has a 4.12 ERA with decent underlying marks in more than 600 innings.
Peterson is headed into his final season of club control. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $7.6MM arbitration salary. He’d probably double that if he were to sign a one-year contract as a free agent, so there should be a few million dollars of surplus value. There’s a chance he pitches well enough to put himself in consideration for a qualifying offer next winter.
If he’s not traded, Peterson will open the season in Carlos Mendoza’s rotation. McLean and Sean Manaea are locked in as well. Clay Holmes stuck as a starter all year but has plenty of experience in the bullpen. Kodai Senga has come up in trade talks. Christian Scott, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat are high-upside talents who might all begin the season in Triple-A. The Mets are almost certainly going to add at least one starter, though they’re reportedly reluctant to go long term in free agency. They’ve been most frequently tied to Michael King as a potential target on the open market.