The Offseason Monitor: Mets Keep the Stove Hot
Another late night trade involving the Mets to add their ace
It’s been a busy week on the MLB hot stove. Last night, the Mets added much-needed rotation stability by trading for Freddy Peralta, while yesterday Cody Bellinger landed a multi-year deal to stay in the Bronx.
Let’s break down what each move means — and where fantasy managers should be adjusting expectations.
Cody Bellinger Signing
After bouncing between flashes of resurgence and prolonged slumps in recent seasons, Cody Bellinger finally gets his big contract. The New York Yankees locked Cody up on a 5-year, $162.5 million contract. The short porch in left certainly boosted Bellinger’s stock. He played like a totally different player on the road last season.
Even though this is an overpay on the Yankees’ part, they definitely need his bat in the lineup. Although he has been a very consistent player over the last 3 seasons. I would bank on him aging well.
Fantasy takeaway:
Bellinger is a steady option to fill an OF position on your roster. Batting behind Aaron Judge, just like last year, proved to benefit Bellinger. Plus, Cody is going to have protection against LHP relievers with Stanton behind him. I personally would fade drafting Cody around his current ADP of 83. If he slides closer to ADP 100, I would consider drafting him. MLB Data Warehouse has the following projection for Bellinger.
651 PA, 76 R, 21 HR, 82 RBI, 11 SB, 15.3 K%
Freddy Peralta Trade:
It finally happened: Peralta is off the board. The New York Mets send over prospects INF Jett Williams and RHP Brandon Sproat in exchange for All-Star RHP Freddy Peralta and RHP Tobias Myers.
This feels like a fair trade; I would have zero problem as a fan of either team. Let’s break down the players involved and what this does to their fantasy impact.
→ Freddy Peralta
Since the 2021 season, Freddy has been known as one of the nastiest and most reliable pitchers in baseball. The Mets acquired the clear ace in their rotation.
That’s a model of consistency right there. You know exactly what you’re getting there. Also, for only $8 million this year, that is a steal; he is a free agent going into next season.
Peralta’s pitch mix includes a four-seam, changeup, curveball, and slider. Heavily relying on the fastball and changeup. A couple of things stand out: his changeup has a 58% GB%, and his slider owns a 24.4% SwStr% - his put-away pitch.
I do not expect Freddy to regress if he can keep his K and GB percentages up. Currently, Peralta is being drafted as SP 16. Of course, Peralta will have good roto numbers to back up this price tag. MLB Data Warehouse projections below.
175.9 IP, 1.21 WHIP, 27.2% K%, 10 W
→ Tobias Myers
I found this part of the trade somewhat intriguing. It had been reported on X that the Brewers were asking for Williams and Sproat - Tobias being included must’ve been what pushed the Mets over the edge to complete the deal. There is obviously something there the Mets like.
Myers has an above-average vertical break on his four-seam, giving it a riding effect through the zone, but there isn’t much velocity (93.5 AVG). If the Mets can turn Myers into an elite bullpen arm, I would not be shocked. He has a filthy splitter that is comparable to Jeremiah Estrada. He is a name to keep an eye on through spring training.
→ Jett Williams
Listen to Jett Williams’ breakdown here. At MLB DW he is our #36 prospect. He played a lot of AA-ball last season and got a taste of AAA. I expect him to begin 2026 in AAA as well. Unless he has some sort of breakout spring training.
His scouting report reads as follows:
“Prime Skills
Plate skills and speed, the contact tool is still developing, but should ultimately be a good tool for Williams, as he has gotten the hit tool close to his pre-injury 2023 levels with an 80.1% contact rate. He has non-zero power, and because he has a quick swing, he can get to a surprising number of extra base hits. He has a max 108.4 EV in a small sample size of statcast data this year and could run into a couple of 20-homer seasons, but will likely live in the 15-homer range, who can steal 30-40 bags. Jett had a phenomenal 58 extra-base hits in 130 games in 2025.
Ranking Explanation
Jett is an interesting player who should have some position flexibility and has a bit of a mighty mouse in him despite the smaller stature. If he can get to a league average hit tool, the advanced plate approach and speed will carry him to fantasy relevance, however he needs to improve efficiency on the basepaths in order to get a forever green light. There’s proximity here, but I’ll take Jensen’s banked attack angles and EVs to the speed and better plate skills of Williams.”
I highly recommend listening to Tim’s breakdown of Jett. Good stuff.
→ Brandon Sproat
This might be my favorite piece in the return. I watched a lot of Sproat starts when he was at the University of Florida. Absolutely electric arm coming out of college. He has a full arsenal, including a four-seam, sinker, changeup, slider, sweeper, and a curveball. The walks are an issue with Sproat, but he now moves to Milwaukee’s pitching lab that has tremendous success turning farm arms into elite major league talent (and then trade them for more prospects).
Currently, Sproat is not projected to make the opening day roster according to Fangraphs Roster Resource. I would think Sproat would make the rotation at some point in 2026. They have an extremely young rotation and may watch inning counts on some guys.
I am a believer in the guy and will be trying to trade for him in my dynasty leagues.
Final Thoughts
Now that the Mets have their ace, do they continue their pursuit of Framber Valdez? Or do the Orioles/Giants have an opportunity to steal him for a stupid short deal? I bet Valdez never imagined that he would find himself in this predicament. The Mets still have the money to get him and have a SP 1-2 pair as nasty as sin. Only time will tell. Personally, I think he ends up in an Orange jersey.
It felt like both of the moves mentioned today were bound to happen. We all knew Cody was going back to the Bronx, and the Mets were the clear suitor for Peralta.