BREAKING: The Mets FLEECED the MLB...

Breaking news, the Mets fleeced the MLB. For once, they'll give up their management credit. After a historic loss, they did not wait, trading homegrown talent David Peterson within mere hours of their embarrassing loss. The return package, however, is fantastic given Peterson's lack of production, so we'll dive into the deal only here on Mets Digest. I'm your host today, Mike Tudor, equipped to do so, but first, I want to thank each and every single one of the over seven and a quarter thousand subscribers that we have on the channel. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to hit that three subscribe button, and if you're part of the 65% of viewers who has not yet done so, please consider on the road to 8,000 subscribers. It's free and it's worth your while. We've got videos coming out each and every single day between myself and Josh Byrne, sometimes two, three, and even four videos in a given day. So thank you so much in advance. And to dive in, we are turning it over to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the MLB insider, who at 11.46 Eastern Standard Time, right before midnight, said trade news. The Chicago Cubs are acquiring left-handed pitcher David Peterson from the New York Mets, sources told ESPN. So kudos. Kudos to the president of baseball operations, David Stearns, here. He got a deal done right after the Mets had arguably their worst game in over a decade plus. They committed six infield errors alone. They lost 10-5, lost a doubleheader where they were outscored by one player, Dansby Swanson, 11-8, and Swanson, who entered the series with a sub-190 batting average, has outscored the entire team throughout the three games, 15-4. So with all that embarrassment, the president of baseball operations said, I need to do something. And this comes just a day after the manager, Carlos Mendoza, sent Kodai Senga to the bullpen because he has really struggled in the rotation. So both guys that have been the forefront of this pathetic rotation for the most part, Peterson and Senga are now no longer in the rotation. Kodai is in the bullpen, and David Peterson will be wearing a different blue uniform tomorrow on the other side of city field with the Chicago Cubs. Now, David Peterson was one of my favorite, if not my favorite, New York Met players over the past couple of years, so this does hurt a little bit, but in the grand scheme of things, the Mets got a really good package in return, and this was a deal that simply needed to happen. But before we dive into that, let's keep it with Passon. Why exactly did the Cubs do this? This is a guy that has an over 6 ERA this year. Well, Passon says, the Cubs desperately need starting pitching help, and they'll get a big leaguer in Peterson, who has a 6.09 ERA this season. He's got a 3.85 FIP, however, and a 51.1% ground ball rate, and he's going from the Mets infield that we just discussed, that terrible defense, to the best in the MLB Chicago Cubs, which could be huge for DP. He also lost his spot in New York's rotation, and will be a free agent after this year, 2026. So it's a rental for Chicago, which is even more of a reason why I'm surprised that the Mets got such a good prospect in return. Again, we'll save that for a little bit later in the video. Just how much of a sell-off the Mets engage in will be one of the big storylines leading up to the August 3rd trade deadline, but this is the first piece, and rival executives expect plenty more. This is the first big trade throughout the MLB, and it says a lot about what David Stearns is going to do moving forward, but again, we will talk about that a little bit later, because for now, we are turning it over to Will Salmon, who has the return package. The Mets are acquiring minor leaguer Cole Mathis in the deal, according to league sources. Again, we will save all of that Cole Mathis talk for just a little bit, because right now if you're a visual person, here is how it pans out. Pretty simple, one for one, Mets get Mathis, Cubs get DP. So let's dive into both players, starting off with the former now, former man, ooh that's tough to say, David Peterson. 16 games this year between the bullpen and a starting role, 3-6 record, a 6-0-9 ERA in 68 innings, just 63 strikeouts, and a 1-6-5 whip. He had the worst of his career in all of the following categories, war at a negative one thus far, ERA 6.09, ERA plus at 68, keep in mind league average is 100, anything better is better than the average MLB pitcher, anything worse is worse, so Peterson so far in 2026 is 32 ERA plus points worse than the average MLB pitcher. His whip at a 1.65 that you see on your screen, and hits per nine, allowing nearly 11 hits per nine innings, well more than one per inning, so just a bad year overall from Peterson, and that is a big part of the reason why he got traded. Additionally, the advanced metrics have not been there. Some things that I want to point out, that chase percentage at nearly 31% is solid, he is a guy that gets a lot of chases on his pitches, his walks are high however, at 9.4%, that's the 37th percentile in baseball, but as we mentioned earlier with Passon, he gets a ton of ground balls, 53% this year, which puts him in the 89th percentile, however, he is in the worst of his career in a couple of these metrics as well, on the advanced front, fastball run value at a negative nine, that's only the 6th percentile, his off speed run value at negative five, that is just the third percentile, and his whip percentage at 22.2, which is only the 28th percentile. Now, time to evaluate the return player in this 1-for-1 swap, gotta move on from Peterson, he is now a Cub, let's talk about Cole Mathis, who is joining the New York Met organization. That number 13 that you see in the top right hand corner of your screen is indicative of the fact that he was the 13th overall prospect with the Cubs, currently in high A, a corner infielder, he won't be ready for a while, but he is only age 22, a double righty, standing at 6-2-10, and the second round selection for the Cubbies back in 2024, 54th overall, with an estimated time of hitting the pros relatively quickly, in my opinion, at 2028, but it's when we dive into what the experts have to say, and the statistics, that really get me going, in addition to that number 13, nearly a top 10 prospect, and look, you can't just say, oh, we got a guy who's a 13th prospect in somebody's system, you have to look at the package that you're giving up, I understand that Peterson's stats overall throughout his career are not atrocious, and have kind of arguably lived up to the first round hype that he was receiving, however, a lot of teams are going to go based off of how this year is going, what is happening with Peterson in 2026, and he has been a bottom pitcher in all of baseball, so the fact that you can get the 13th overall prospect in a pretty good Cubs system is very impressive to me, so let's turn it over to the scouts, what do they have to say? Well, one of college baseball's best two-way performers as a sophomore in 2023, Mathis topped the College of Charleston in OPS at a 1.014, and ERA at a 3.45, before ranking second in the Cape Cod League with 11 dingers in 38 games, he focused on hitting as a junior while dealing with an elbow injury, became the highest pick in school history in the second round, and unfortunately had Tommy John surgery shortly after signing a nearly $1.7 million signing bonus, rehab and a subsequent elbow sprain limited him to just 29 games in single A in 2025 for his pro debut, and he didn't play the field until the Arizona Fall League, so possibly a little bit of concern there, but the Tommy John won't affect him anymore in terms of a pitcher, because he has given up pitching, the only way that it impacts him is if he's playing third base, or even first on the occasional throw that you have to make on the other side of the diamond, additionally, Mathis has an easy right-handed stroke, and the upside of a solid hitter with raw power to match, though he hasn't gotten much of a chance to show what he can do when fully healthy in pro ball, he strings together quality at bats, and hangs in well against breaking balls and changeups, he was more aggressive at single A than he was in college, showing the ability to elevate balls to his pull side, but not hitting the ball as hard as he did at Charleston, final thing that the scouts had to say, is though the Cubs announced Mathis as a third baseman when they drafted him, he spent just one game there in college, and most scouts think he lacks the quickness and athleticism to handle the hot corner. He has had a chance to be an average first baseman, but won't cover a lot of ground at either corner, and that's a very interesting point, especially given David Stern's run prevention theory. Before he got hurt, he had a low 90s fastball with arm side run, and a mid 70s downer curveball that he located well. Time for the stats, what everyone is curious about, keep in mind he has only played in A and high A baseball, but he's doing really well in 2026, a .272, .396, .585 slash line for a .981, nearly 1 OPS, he is a power machine, 10 dingers, 39 RBIs in 39 games played, his career is a .248, .371, .508 for an .879 OPS, with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in 68 games played, because he struggled in his first year in 2025, keep in mind the injuries that he was dealing with, and the rehab. Just a .215, .338, .402 slash line for a .738 OPS, 3 homers, 14 RBIs in 29 games played. Now I really like this guy, I think this is a similar player to a Ryan Clifford, now how that pans out in the Mets future if both are really really good, I'm not quite sure, maybe you see Mathis go to third, Clifford plays first, maybe you see one of them be a DH, who knows, that's something for a long ways away, because keep in mind Mathis won't be ready until 2028, but bulk up that system, especially because you're not giving up much because of how bad Peterson has been, I love the fact that the Mets get a really good prospect, but I think what I love more is the fact that David Stearns is actually selling, at least at the given moment, granted, there's still a lot of time before the deadline, Stearns is someone that might think if the Mets go on a hot streak, and are a couple of games out of the wild card race, that they can make it, and then he'll put all his chips in, so I'm not giving him full credit yet, I'm not saying that he's going to fully sell at the deadline, but I think this is a really good first sign, especially after the disastrous night last night for the Amazons, but go down in the comment section, let me know if you agree or disagree, you think that Mathis is going to pan out, is he a good prospect return for David Peterson, I personally think yes on both of those questions, but regardless, thank you so much as always for watching, and let's go Mets!