NEW YORK — As Jed Hoyer remembers it, the Chicago Cubs first chatted with the New York Mets about the possibility of trading for starting pitcher David Peterson six weeks ago.
Back then, sometime in mid-May, the Cubs were already dealing with significant injuries to their rotation. Cade Horton, Justin Steele and Matthew Boyd were all sidelined. Over the following weeks, as the Cubs lost starter Jameson Taillon to the injured list, they continued on-again, off-again conversations with the Mets about Peterson.
By the time Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown joined a full rotation worth of Cubs pitchers on the injured list this week, talks intensified regarding Peterson to the point the teams struck a deal late Wednesday night.
The kickoff to trade deadline season? Not quite, Hoyer, the Cubs’ president of baseball operations, said. In the final week of June, the wild-card standings in both leagues remain too bunched to create enough trade partners.
“Teams aren’t really talking trades that much right now, honestly,” Hoyer said.
Even the Mets are not yet ready to surrender. New York began Thursday 12 games below .500 and nine games behind the final wild card, which, coincidentally, the Cubs hold. After the trade, people familiar with the Mets’ plans who were granted anonymity so as to freely discuss the situation said trading Peterson is not indicative of New York going into sell mode.
Instead, a special set of circumstances led to the Mets swapping Peterson for minor-league infielder Cole Mathis just before the season’s midpoint. While the proximity couldn’t hurt, Hoyer downplayed the significance of the teams playing each other. It was more about the Cubs’ dire need and the Mets’ willingness to part with a free-agent-to-be who hasn’t worked in their rotation for nearly a full year.
Since the second half of last season, the Mets tried Peterson, an All-Star in 2025, as a starter, bulk pitcher and reliever. The lefty never found his groove. In 16 games, including eight starts, Peterson, 30, had a 6.09 ERA.
Then came Wednesday, a day of consequence for the Mets’ struggling and thin rotation. In a last-ditch effort to save their season, they addressed their biggest issue with addition by subtraction. The Mets jettisoned Kodai Senga to the bullpen and shipped Peterson to Chicago. To replace Senga and Peterson, they are recalling prospect Zach Thornton to start Friday, with Christian Scott set to return from the injured list Saturday.
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Just because Peterson floundered with the Mets doesn’t mean he cannot flourish with the Cubs.
Despite a ghastly ERA, Peterson holds a 3.85 FIP. Although hard contact and a lack of whiffs can sometimes spell trouble for Peterson, a strong defense, particularly in the infield, should help. The Mets’ infield defense, which committed six errors Wednesday, is not good. The Cubs’ infield defense is elite, ranking No. 2 in Major League Baseball for Baseball Savant’s fielding run value (the Mets are No. 25). Peterson’s 52.9 percent groundball rate, per Baseball Savant, ranks in the top 11 percent of MLB.
“With our defense, he felt like a pitcher that there was an upside there,” Hoyer said. “We do field groundballs really well, and he’s really good at that, and hopefully we can help him that way.”
The Cubs’ search for pitching help won’t end with Peterson. Perhaps, it can’t. Brown’s stress reaction in his neck requires a lengthy process of rest, manager Craig Counsell said. Cabrera’s timetable to return from a hamstring injury remains unclear. Taillon is throwing bullpens. Boyd returned Thursday. But while Steele may return in September, Hoyer said the left-hander is unlikely to get stretched out in enough time to help as a starter.
Peterson was not at Citi Field on Thursday because the Cubs gave the formerly longest-tenured active Mets player a day to get his personal life in order. He is expected to pitch in their series in Milwaukee against the first-place Brewers. Beyond Peterson and Boyd, the Cubs’ rotation includes Colin Rea, Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad.
Hoyer is continuing to monitor the waiver wire and consider internal solutions to help the Cubs’ rotation depth.
“Just kind of looking everywhere we can to find reinforcements,” Hoyer said.
In the meantime, perhaps another small trade may happen. The Cubs will certainly try, Hoyer said. But don’t necessarily count on it happening. Not yet, anyway.
And for anything larger, the trade picture isn’t clear enough for an accurate forecast.
The market may feature Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, but Detroit’s five-game deficit in the AL wild-card standings remains manageable. In front of the Tigers, there are six teams separated by two games for the final spot. One of those teams is the Minnesota Twins, who have Joe Ryan, a potential trade candidate.
In the NL, the Mets may soon be forced to listen to offers for impending free agent Freddy Peralta. Such a development would make New York stand out from the pack as a seller. The Philadelphia Phillies are the top wild-card team, but behind them are seven teams separated by 2 1/2 games.
While it’s always possible for contending teams to connect on a need-for-need deal, having more clearly defined buyers and sellers generally leads to more traction regarding trade talks. With the Aug. 3 trade deadline less than six weeks away, the present standings make conversations tricky.
In that sense, the Cubs are fortunate to have lined up on a deal for Peterson the way they did with the Mets.
“Realistically, are there gonna be trades in July? Of course there will be, but I think we have to assume that we’re going to be mostly focused internally,” Hoyer said. “We’ll talk to every team, we’ll explore things, but realistically, I would imagine, given how teams are clumped together, it’s going to be pretty late toward Aug. 3.”
