Peralta arranged Soto-Lindor meeting before Mets trade
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- Freddy Peralta arranged a meeting in June for Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor to clear the air after tension lingered into their second season as Mets teammates, multiple sources told ESPN.
- Juan Soto initially denied the meeting took place in Spanish before confirming his relationship with Lindor 'has gotten along very well' this year, while Lindor downplayed the gathering as a routine conversation among Latino teammates.
- Mets owner Steve Cohen confirmed on a July 1 New York Post podcast that the Soto-Lindor relationship had improved and called the narrative 'last year's story,' crediting reports that the pair were 'getting along much better.'
- Peralta, a Dominican-native veteran acquired from Milwaukee in January along with Tobias Myers for two top prospects, emerged as a bilingual clubhouse leader and mediator before posting career-worst ERA, WHIP and strikeout rate in his lone Mets season.
- The Mets traded eight veterans in the five days leading into Monday's deadline after a drastic offseason overhaul — replacing Nimmo, Alonso, Diaz and McNeil with Semien, Bichette and Robert Jr. — failed to deliver a playoff berth and cost manager Carlos Mendoza his job in June.
Why it matters: Peralta's tenure ends after roughly seven months, but the June sit-down he initiated may outlast his ERA: ownership publicly credits improved chemistry between the Mets' $765 million man and their franchise shortstop, a dynamic the front office will build around after jettisoning the team's four longest-tenured veterans.
