NEW YORK — The last-place New York Mets traded starting pitcher Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays for three minor leaguers on Sunday.
Peralta, a two-time All-Star who can become a free agent following the World Series, has been a disappointment with the Mets after they acquired him from Milwaukee in a January trade. But he could boost the middle of a strong rotation for the pitching-rich Rays, who began the day with the best record in the American League at 65-45 and a 3 1/2-game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees.
The Mets receive outfielder Aidan Smith, infielder Emilien Pitre and right-hander Gary Gill Hill in exchange for Peralta.
The move came a day before baseball’s trade deadline at 6 p.m. EDT on Monday.
New York sent youngsters Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to the Brewers for Peralta and right-hander Tobias Myers, giving up a pair of players rated among the game’s top 100 prospects in the anticipation Peralta would be the frontline starter the team needed.
Instead, he went 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts and failed to complete five innings in four of his last five outings for the Mets. He was 5-5 with a 3.90 ERA after beating Atlanta 8-1 on June 14 but is 0-4 with a 7.93 ERA in his past seven starts, including a June 20 dud when he allowed 10 runs and 10 hits over 2 2/3 innings at Philadelphia.
“I know that so far I let them down,” Peralta said late last month. “I haven’t what I was supposed to do.”
With the Rays, the right-hander joins a rotation headed by All-Stars Drew Rasmussen and Nick Martinez. Left-hander Shane McClanahan, an All-Star in 2022 and 2023, is 9-6 with a 3.09 ERA in 20 starts but was placed on the 15-day injured list Friday with mid-back tightness on his left side.
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