These 5 Freddy Peralta trade destinations can land their missing World Series piece

The New York Mets are nine games below .500 and tied with San Francisco for the worst record in the National League. It's a bit too early to blow it up, but 670 The Score's Bruce Levine reports a target date of June 1 for the Mets to either turn it around or start planning for the future.

Moreover, New York was unable to agree to terms on an extension for ace Freddy Peralta in the offseason. He will hit free agency this coming winter as a result. If the Mets aren't dramatically better over the next few weeks, that could mean Peralta ends up back in trade talks mere months after the Brewers cut bait explicitly because of how expensive his next contract will be. These teams could take advantage:

Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto is beginning to figure it out. The Blue Jays' rotation has held up remarkably well despite an onslaught of injuries. The bullpen is on solid ground with Louis Varland in the closer spot. The bats, after a sluggish start, are beginning to heat up. Kazuma Okamoto in particular is looking like the star infielder Toronto needed in place of Bo Bichette.

If the Blue Jays continue to dig their way out of an early-season hole, it wouldn't hurt to reinforce the rotation. Cody Ponce is done for the year. Shane Bieber won't be back any time soon either. Dylan Cease is pitching like a Cy Young candidate, while Kevin Guasman and Trey Yesavage round out an excellent postseason top three. Peralta can serve as the cherry on top.

Peralta is historically quite durable, and after a top-five finish in NL Cy Young voting, he offers the star pedigree a spend-happy Blue Jays front office can reward in free agency. Toronto's ability to compete on the open market in free agency — while building upon their foundation as reigning AL champs — makes it a real, viable destination.

San Diego Padres

Based on the current standings, San Diego might be the fakest contender in the National League. At least for now. The Padres came out of the gate red-hot, but their offense is destined for collapse if Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill can't remember how to drive a baseball. Tatis has zero home runs and his swing mechanics are all of a whack. For all the hard contact he generates, it's consistently a groundball that finds a glove.

San Diego's pitching staff is also held together by tape and Elmer's glue at the moment. Mason Miller anchors a spectacular bullpen — the Padres' real secret weapon — but the rotation gets dicey beyond Michael King and Nick Pivetta. The latter is hurt right now.

AJ Preller doesn't have much left in the chamber as far as trade ammo, but the Padres are notoriously aggressive buyers at the deadline and Preller is happy to bottom out of the farm system if it means a real chance to compete in the NL postseason race.

St. Louis Cardinals

Apologies in advance to Brewers fans.

New York will have zero issue sending Peralta to the NL Central for the right price. And, as it so happens, that division has five teams in the thick of the postseason race at the moment. The most surprising of the bunch is St. Louis, who are flourishing under new GM Chaim Bloom despite an offseason fire sale.

JJ Wetherholt is a day one, five-tool star, which helps. So does the sudden breakout of Jordan Walker, who is finally translating his immense natural power into home runs, rather than hard-hit groundouts. This Cardinals lineup feels like the real deal.

Where St. Louis most needs help is in the rotation. The Cards just don't have many, if any postseason-caliber arms on the roster, and it's going to bite them down the stretch if Bloom can't figure out a solution. Peralta is due $8 million this season. He's on a bargain contract. Even if the Cardinals can't re-sign him, it could be worth it for a half-year rental after St. Louis stockpiled so much prospect capital over the winter.

Chicago Cubs

Chicago has already been linked to Peralta, which is the nightmare scenario for Brewers fans. Milwaukee already sold its soul by trading Peralta after a first-place finish in the National League. The free agency factor was understandable, but dealing Peralta to another National League contender (or expected contender) just to cop out of an eventual bidding war always felt weak.

Now he could end up on a direct division rival. And unlike the Cardinals, the Cubs actually have the firepower to not only dethrone Milwaukee, but maybe even the Dodgers and Braves if everything breaks right. Chicago has been on a torrid pace in recent weeks. The offense has come alive and the rotation has remained a strength, despite unfortunate injuries to Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton.

The Cubs already expect Justin Steele back around midseason. Boyd shouldn's stay on the shelf for long either. With Edward Cabrera shoving and Shōta Imanaga performing like a fringe Cy Young candidate, adding Peralta to the mix would affirm the Cubs as a genuine force atop the National League hierarchy.

Los Angeles Dodgers

This is the nightmare scenario, but with Blake Snell still on the IL — and with Rōki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan both struggling immensely — there's incentive for the Dodgers to be aggressive. And at $8 million, Peralta hardly breaks the bank for baseball's richest team.

The Dodgers would be in prime position to re-sign Peralta, and maybe to target Tarik Skubal while they're at it. This is the dystopian hellscape the other 29 MLB teams have created with their financial reservations. In addition to an endless revenue stream, the Dodgers are equipped with arguably the deepest farm system in baseball. They can make it well worth the Mets' while to ship Peralta to the west coast.

A four-man postseason gauntlet of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani and Peralta, with Tyler Glasnow and Sasaki throwing filth out of the bullpen, would render the Dodgers pretty damn hard to beat. Especially if their superpowered lineup starts producing at above 70 percent capacity, which is already enough to mop the floor with 90 percent of MLB contenders.

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