00:03Dexter Henry, Mike Puma, the great beat reporter covering the Mets for us here at the New York
00:07Post. Coming to you from Citi Field where, Mike, we are just a couple of days away from the trade
00:13deadline. Very interesting time for the New York Mets who expected to be sellers. But I got to ask
00:18you this. What's the mood like right now in that clubhouse just days before the trade deadline?
00:23You've seen a few of these. What's the mood like when you know the team is selling and everybody
00:28doesn't know who is going to be here, who's going to be here past the trade deadline? What's the mood
00:33like right now in the clubhouse? It's kind of a weird situation. It almost feels like in some sense
00:38that last week of school where guys are going to be leaving one another pretty soon. You look at
00:48this group, there's probably five, six, seven guys who are going to be in a different spot at this
00:55time next week. So it's definitely a strange thing where they're going out and still trying to win
01:04games here, obviously. But at the same time, there's a full realization that this is the last
01:12of the bands sort of being together here. Yeah, you took me back. I remember those last days of
01:17school, right? Especially before you're about to graduate. I don't know where everybody's going
01:20to go. You don't know how this is all going to play out. Everybody's still wondering how that's
01:24going to be for this team. Now, I want to talk to you about a couple of names, Mike, that
01:28we've heard
01:28come up, you know, in terms of who could be traded for the Mets. Clay Holmes, one of them. Now,
01:33he just made his, which could be his last rehab start, pitched very well in that for scoreless
01:37innings. What are you hearing about him and the possibility of him moving on for this team? He's
01:43been one of David Stern's better signings. But do you think it's in the Mets' best interest to move on
01:48from him and maybe not extend him? Yeah, I think there's a strong possibility that he's going to
01:53be dealt. And, you know, the thing you look at with him is, yeah, sure, you could extend him. But
01:58I think, you know, he's also got the chance to opt out at the end of the season. So why
02:05not
02:06trade him now? Get what you can for him. And then you make a play for him after the season
02:14in free
02:14agency if you want him back. So you kind of get the best of both worlds there.
02:18How do you think teams are looking at him, though? Because we've seen success for him
02:22before the Mets as a reliever, but we've also seen success for him as a starter. Does that give the
02:27Mets maybe more leverage in trying to trade him, knowing that he's been successful in both roles?
02:31Yeah, I think it helps a little bit. But, you know, in Holmes' case, he's been a starter here now
02:36for,
02:37you know, this is his second season doing it. He was really pitching at a high level
02:42before the injury in May. So I think most teams are going to look at him as a starter. And
02:48yeah,
02:48certainly if you need a bullpen arm down the stretch, he's a guy who's done it in the biggest
02:53spots before and certainly doing it in New York. But, you know, if you're trading for Clay Holmes
02:59right now, you're looking at him as a starter. Yeah, got a lot of value for a lot of teams.
03:04That
03:04should be interesting, too. Now, a guy whose value I think could be interesting for the Mets here as we
03:09had somebody join us in our shot. We always like that. Could be Freddy Peralta. You look at the
03:15Freddy Peralta decision when the Mets traded for him. 499 ERA right now. Hasn't been that strong.
03:22How do you look at his tenure as a Met? Has it been a failure? Or do you look at
03:26a situation that
03:26has just been a bad four months and another team that gets him could fix what some of the problems
03:31may be? Well, I think both could be true. That his tenure here has been, you know, has not been
03:36great at all. And I think if you had to characterize it, you would characterize it as a failure.
03:40This is a guy you brought in to be the ace of your staff and certainly the co-ace with
03:45Nolan McClain. And he's not performed well. He's racked up his pitch counts. He's struggled
03:51to get beyond the fourth inning here. He's gotten knocked around. And, yeah, there's going to
03:56be teams out there that are going to look at him and say, all right, you know what, we can
04:01fix this guy. And he's pitched at a high level before for Milwaukee, finished, what was it,
04:08fifth, I believe, in the Cy Young voting last year. So there's going to be enough teams out
04:14there that are going to think they can get something out of Freddie Peralta here. And,
04:19of course, at the same time, when they're dealing with the Mets, they're going to point
04:23to that 4-9-9. Yeah, they're going to do that. They're going to say, hey, listen, you know,
04:28we don't have to give up a ton here to get him. But, you know, I think the Mets are
04:34going
04:35to take their time. And, you know, Peralta is a trade ship here. And he's one, you know,
04:40he and Holmes are the guys you're going to get your best return for right now. So, but,
04:47yeah, I, you know, I'd be surprised if Freddie Peralta is still here beyond Monday.
04:53Yeah, that would be a shocker too. Luke Weaver is another name that we've talked
04:55about a lot. We don't know if he'll be here past the deadline. He could bring a lot back
04:59for the Mets. But in terms of what the Mets should do here at the deadline, Mike,
05:04what should David Stearns be trying to accomplish when it comes to prospects? Should he be looking
05:08for prospects that have the highest talent and upside or guys that are close to being
05:13major league ready that could help this team in 2027? I think ideally you find a little bit of both.
05:18Now, you know, if you use the last sell-off as a guide three years ago, and that was
05:27certainly a different regime. But, you know, they brought guys that weren't as close to the
05:37big leagues here. And, you know, we still see Ryan Clifford's at AAA, who they got in that
05:43deal for Verlander. But, you know, I think you're at the end of the day, you're going
05:52for the best talent available. But at the same time, you want some guys who are going to be
05:57able to step in here in the next year or two to help you where you don't want to, you
06:02know,
06:02I don't think it makes, it certainly won't make the fans too happy if the returns are a bunch of
06:10low A-ball guys. So, you know, you got to find that balance there.
06:14Yeah, you know that, Mike. Fans, they want that talent immediately. They want to see these guys
06:18up here. And it doesn't always work like that in terms of trades. But we're talking about a guy
06:22who's here and helping the Mets right now. It's one of the bright spots right now, Zach Thornton.
06:27He's been a bright spot for them. You're seeing Pichuel in this rotation. Do the Mets look at him
06:32as somebody that can help them 20, 27 and beyond? And if the Mets are maybe looking, as we've heard
06:37some mentions of trying to get an arm maybe here that can help the rotation at the deadline,
06:42does his emergence sort of change any plans towards that?
06:46No, you know, you're still going to need arms here. And Thornton's been a real good story here over
06:53his five starts. You know, a guy who at the beginning
06:57of the year wasn't highly on the radar. We were talking about some
07:01other guys. And, you know, now he's kind of jumped in the
07:05picture here with him, McLean, Christian Scott. Those are the three
07:10young guys you're kind of building this rotation
07:13around. But you're going to need more. You know, especially
07:15we're talking about Peralta and Holmes. And, you know,
07:19you trade Holmes. Yeah, you try and sign him back maybe, but there's no guarantee.
07:24So you're going to have to develop a few more arms here. And Thornton is, you know,
07:30the thing, he's been fearless. He just, he doesn't have that blazing fastball,
07:34but he goes out there and attacks hitters, attacks the strike zone. And he's opening
07:40some eyes here as a guy who can be, you know, a potential back of the rotation
07:47option moving forward. I was going to ask you if you saw him as more than that.
07:50You see him as a back of the rotation guy? Yeah, I think he's more a four or five
07:54kind of guy. And, you know, you certainly need that kind of,
07:58you know, you need that. Do you think there's any chance the Mets may try to look
08:02for a guy to get on a value to be a front end of the rotation starter? Because they
08:06do need another one of those, if not a couple more. Do you think that's possible
08:10here at the trade deadline? At the trade line? I think it's possible. I think it's going to be
08:14difficult just because, you know, you're going to be overpaying in a sense
08:17because, you know, somebody you're going to be acquiring, you're going to be
08:22paying for this year too. And you don't really value this year right now if you're
08:27the Mets. So I think it's, it's something you look for if you can get it, but
08:33it's going to be tough. It's going to be hard. All right, last thing for me here,
08:36Mike, Mets fans, they're trying to figure out what else they should be excited
08:40about for the rest of the season. They're going to be excited about the trade
08:42deadline. But when you look at the final couple of months of the season,
08:45what should Mets fans be keeping their eye on? What should give them hope for
08:49the future? What should they be really looking at over these final two months
08:53of the season? Yeah, and I think you just want to see the continued development
08:56of the young guys, the rookies. You know, we're seeing, we're getting a good dose
09:01of AJ Ewing here, Carson Benj. You know, the thing that impresses me about Carson
09:08Benj is there just hasn't been that drop off. You know, he started the season,
09:12slow over those first three, four weeks, and then he picked up his game,
09:17and it's stayed at a high level. So, you know, let's see if he can finish the season
09:22without going back into a valley. And, you know, Ewing's been another one
09:29who's been terrific for this team. And, you know, Nolan McClain had a little bit of a rough stretch
09:37maybe in May, but he's pitched well in Christian Scott. So, yeah, if you're a Mets fan,
09:43that's what you're looking for for the final two months of the season. You just want to see these
09:47young guys keep going and finish the season in a good spot.
09:51There you go. Mike Puma giving you some hope. Focus on the young guys. Carson Benj, AJ Ewing,
09:56Christian Scott, Nolan McClain, Zach Thornton, all doing some good stuff. We'll see how that all shakes
10:01up for the Mets down the stretch of the season. Then we'll also see what the Mets are able to
10:05do
10:05or not able to do at the trade deadline, which is coming up on Monday. That will have Mike
10:10very, very busy. That's going to do it from here at Citi Field. He's Mike Puma. I'm Dexter Henry.
10:14We'll catch you next time on Straight Outta Flushing.
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