How struggles of Mets' Freddy Peralta reportedly could impact his trade value

Without directly saying so, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen basically confirmed that he will soon embrace a fire-sale mentality regarding the Aug. 3 trade deadline. 

Cohen offered his comments before once-advertised ace Freddy Peralta endured yet another poor start with the Mets. Peralta has been the subject of trade rumors since it was learned in March that he would remain on track to reach free agency after this season. However, his performances over the past handful of months have left fans wondering if he has any value as a tradeable piece. 

Will a buying team think it can "fix" Freddy Peralta?

On Thursday, MLB insider Chelsea Janes of SNY spoke with "some rival executives" about what the Mets could get for Peralta and other players not locked down via multiyear deals. 

"Peralta is a durable starter in a contract year, and because his issues appear to be the result of some inadvertent changes to his delivery early this season, pitching-savvy teams should have reason to believe they can fix him," Janes explained. "He is also a good budget option in a starting pitching market that can often be rather costly: He is owed $8M total this season, meaning any team trading for him would only inherit approximately $2.5M prorated salary he is owed after the deadline. That would seemingly make him a good option for everyone from big-market teams looking for help to smaller-market teams hoping to bolster rotations without major investment."

This past offseason, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns acquired Peralta from the Milwaukee Brewers for pitcher Brandon Sproat and infielder/center fielder Jett Williams. At the time of the trade, Williams was listed as the Mets' third-best prospect, while Sproat was fifth.  

Since then, Peralta has stunningly gone 5-7 with a 4.81 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. After he allowed five runs across just four innings of work in Wednesday's loss at the Toronto Blue Jays, he admitted he is feeling "not good" about his "crazy" struggles. Perhaps more worrisome, Terrance Biggs of Heavy noted that the red flags hovering over Peralta go beyond his standard stats. 

What could Mets realistically get for Freddy Peralta?

"Consider the return the Orioles got last year for veteran Charlie Morton, who was more expensive, a decade older and pitching worse than Peralta when they traded him to the Tigers at last year’s deadline," Janes said about what the Mets could fetch for Peralta. "He netted the Orioles a prospect named Micah Ashman, who struck out Cal Raleigh and Roman Anthony in the (World Baseball Classic) this spring and has 50 strikeouts in 30 innings in Double-A this year. Proven starters can return value, even if it is not as much as the Mets gave up to get him."

Of course, it wouldn't hurt the Mets if Peralta gave them even a couple of solid outings over the next several weeks. Unfortunately for Cohen and Stearns, there's no indication Peralta is going to rediscover his best form while wearing orange and blue.