It's Fab Freddy Time

The Mets in a span of 48 hours have gone from “What are the Mets even doing?” to “Watch out Dodgers?” Last night the Mets acquired Brewers ace RHP Freddy Peralta, as well as starter/reliever RHP Tobias Myers from Milwaukee in exchange for RHP Brandon Sproat and IF/CF Jet!(t) Williams. 

I’m a little surprised the Mets were willing to part with Sproat instead of Jonah Tong, who seemed as raw as can be and someone the Brewers were interested in, but hey, thank goodness it wasn’t Nolan McLean. And as much as I loved typing out Jet!(t)’s name, he was blocked in the middle of the infield and in center. 

It was a trade that had to be done. There’s some argument over whether Peralta is a true ace, but hell, he’s instantly the ace of the Mets pitching staff, that’s for sure. The 29-year-old struck out 204 batters in 176.2 innings last year. (That’s more innings than any Met pitched last season.) He had a FIP of 3.64 and finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting. The Brewers traded him away because he will be a free agent after the season. It’ll be interesting to see if David Stearns is willing to sign him to a long-term deal - I would imagine that might be the case if he was willing to trade Sproat away. 

We’ll have more about this trade and Peralta himself in tomorrow’s newsletter. TL;DR Yay!

Luis Robert Moirán Jr., the likely new center fielder for the New York Mets, defected from Cuba in 2016 when he was 19 years old. He signed with the Chicago White Sox on May 27, 2017 and netted himself a $26 million singing bonus. A spring training game in 2018 served as a microcosm of Luis Robert Jr.’s MLB career up to this point. He hit a two-out, go-ahead grand slam in the 8th inning of an eventual White Sox victory, but missed two months of action after that game with a sprained ligament in his left thumb when sliding into second base. 

On January 2, 2020, Robert signed a six-year, $50 million pact with the White Sox. Then he made his MLB debut. He won the American League Rookie of the Month award that August. Luis belted a 487-foot home run in a playoff game. It was the longest postseason home run in White Sox history. He came in second place in AL Rookie of the Year voting, but he did manage to get himself a Gold Glove for his work in center field.

Robert only appeared in 68 games in 2021 thanks to a complete tear of his right hip flexor. After a solid 2022 season where he played in 98 contests, Luis had the season of his life in 2023, putting together a 5.3 bWAR season. The All-Star that year slashed .264/.315/.542 with a 

129 wRC+. He hit 38 home runs and stole 20 bases, back when it was much harder to swipe a bag.

But injuries reared its ugly head during the first week of the 2024 campaign when Robert suffered a Grade 2 flexor strain in his right hip while rounding first base. He missed two months, but when Robert returned he connected on a 448-foot dinger. Still, his proclivity to chase bad pitches also felled him, and he ended up with an 84 wRC+ season. He managed to duplicate that wRC+ number in 2025. That year’s injury was a Grade 2 hamstring strain that cost him about 50 ballgames. 

If you just went by raw talent, Robert should be one of the best players in the game. Unfortunately for the Mets, that ain’t how it works. The duality of Robert’s promise with his cold reality was never more apparent than in the following two tweets:

So which Robert are we going to get? The guy who hit just as well as Tyrone Taylor a year ago? A flat out stud? Someone in between? A change of scenery has helped players in the past in all different types of sports. Playing for the White Sox, especially the last couple of seasons, couldn’t have been good for Luis’s mental health. With New York (NL) he will have access to a new set of brains that can maybe figure out how to translate his impressive bat and sprint speed into positive results. 

Cody Bellinger re-signed with the Yankees, taking their take-it-or-leave-it five-year, $162.5 million offer. It’s quite possible the Mets knew Belli was leaning towards The Bronx on Tuesday night and decided to pull the trigger on Luis Robert Jr. 

"I feel good about our position players as a whole," David Stearns told Steve Gelbs when asked if there are going to be more moves for hitters. Anthony DiComo claimed that when he specifically asked Stearns about left field, the name “Carson Benge” were the first words out of Stearns’ mouth. Brett Baty should also see some time there - if he isn’t traded.

The Mets added to their bullpen yesterday, signing 39-year-old reliever Luis Garcia to a one-year, $1.75 million contract. It includes $1.25 million in incentives. Garcia was pretty good last year even though he pitched for three teams - he had a 3.28 FIP in 55.1 innings of work. Garcia throws a 97-mph sinker, which should pair nicely with the four shortstops the Mets have in the infield. 

That’s how Stearns described the new Met infield - “four shortstops on the dirt” was the phrase he used. That’s one way of looking at Jorge Polanco playing first base for the first time and Bo Bichette at third for the first time since high school.

To make room for Garcia on the 40-man, the Mets designated INF Tsung-Che Cheng for assignment. Cheng was claimed off waivers six days ago. What was your favorite moment during the Cheng era? 

Bo Bichette’s introductory press conference was at Citi Field and broadcast live on SNY. (Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco’s pressers were over Zoom.) It lasted all of 10 minutes - Bichette’s answers were short and to the point. Fair enough. He spoke with Andy Martino for another 10 minutes. It was the first assignment Martino has gotten since he joined the Met organization. 

Luisangel Acuña bid adieu to the Mets organization.

Four Mets made Baseball America’s updated top 100 prospects list. Nolan McLean (#8), Carson Benge (#19), Jonah Tong (#44),, and OF A.J. Ewing (#83)

30 years ago today, the Mets traded for Bernard Gilkey. Gilkey was amazing in his first year with the Metsies. In 1996 he slashed .317/.393/.562. His bWAR was 8.1! But he’s probably best known as the Met in Men In Black who got hit in the head with a fly ball.