Chicago Cubs got mercilessly robbed in latest trade

The Chicago Cubs‘ starting rotation has been the walking wounded all season long, and things got even worse this week with Edward Cabrera returning to the injured list and Ben Brown hitting the IL, as well.

As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, so the Cubs decided to swing a trade on Wednesday night, acquiring left-hander David Peterson from the New York Mets in exchange for first base prospect Cole Mathis.

On the surface, I understand the deal. Chicago is in dire need of pitching help with six — yes, six — of it starters on the injured list. The Cubs are trying to contend for a playoff spot and have actually been playing much better baseball lately, having won nine of their last 12 games. They need to keep themselves afloat.

But when a contending team is desperate, other squads — like the Mets, for example — view it as an opportunity to take advantage of them, and that is exactly what New York did with this trade.

The Mets are 34-46 and going nowhere fast, so they have no reason not to sell right now. And with Chicago looking like fresh meat, New York pounced.

The Chicago Cubs were robbed in the David Peterson trade

Peterson was an All-Star last year, yes. But he absolutely fell apart with a 6.34 ERA during the second half of 2025 and ended with a 4.22 ERA and 1.370 WHIP on the campaign.

This season? Things have been even worse for the southpaw, as he lays claim to a 6.09 ERA and a 1.647 WHIP. He is issuing four walks per nine innings, and he has been so horrendous that the Mets actually moved him to the bullpen last month.

Peterson owns a lifetime 4.31 ERA and 1.400 WHIP, so it’s not like he’s ever been anything more than a back-end-of-the-rotation starter. Now, on the bright side, he is a ground-ball pitcher who has induced grounders on 51.1 percent of contact this season, so that could play well with the Cubs’ terrific infield defense. But do you really trust the 30-year-old?

It’s also a matter of what Chicago gave up for Peterson.

Mathis was a 2024 second-round pick who was slashing .272/.396/.585 with 10 home runs and 39 RBI over 182 plate appearances in Single-A this year. Obviously, he is still quite a long way away from reaching the big leagues, but he seems to be a pretty solid farmhand and was ranked 13th on the Cubs’ prospect list.

Perhaps Peterson will perform much better in the Windy City with a strong defense behind him, but you get the feeling that Chicago surrendered far too much to acquire a pitcher with an ERA north of 6.00.

The post Chicago Cubs got mercilessly robbed in latest trade appeared first on ChiCitySports.