Late Wednesday night, after a six-error game capped the most demoralizing day of a remarkably demoralizing season, the Mets… well, finally did something.

They traded struggling left-handed starter David Peterson to the Chicago Cubs, who spent the day beating up on them despite a rotation held together by a thread, in exchange for infield prospect Cole Mathis. Mathis, 22, has a .981 OPS across two Single-A levels this year.

Trading Peterson should not be read as a sign of surrender, nor an indication that the Mets are now in full sell-off mode, according to a person with direct knowledge of their thinking. They needed to try something different in their rotation, though exactly what that will look like remains unclear. And they liked Mathis, the 13th ranked prospect in the Cubs’ system, according to MLB Pipeline, one Chicago was willing to give up after a stunning series of injuries decimated their rotation in recent weeks.

In other words, the Mets saw a chance to get value out of an asset they were struggling to revive. So they did it.

But if not a sign of surrender, the move does represent the first drastic, permanent change David Stearns and the Mets have made to their roster since the start of this season. Prior to Wednesday, their most substantial shake-up came when they called up outfielder A.J. Ewing in mid-May and decided to play him every day. Other than that, Stearns and his front office have been almost unfathomably patient with their major league roster -- particularly Peterson and his fellow struggling colleagues Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea.

Manaea looked like he had figured something out until he struggled again Wednesday. Senga will move to the bullpen in a last-ditch effort to extract value from a once-promising arm, a generous outcome for a veteran whom the Mets have given chance after chance out of necessity and lack of options.

Peterson’s last outing was yet another maddening combination of ground balls that did not help him, too many walks, and back-breaking home runs. The Cubs have the best defense in baseball, which might help him. Maybe all he needs is a fresh start. The lefty was the Mets’ longest-tenured player after Stearns purged veterans this winter. For whatever reason, Peterson simply could not recover his All-Star form with them this year.

His departure, combined with Senga’s move to the bullpen, leaves two holes in the Mets' rotation. Righty Christian Scott is expected to fill one of them when he returns from the injured list this weekend, joining Manaea, Freddy Peralta, and Nolan McLean in the starting corps.

Potential minor league reinforcements could include Jonah Tong, who is struggling to add to his pitch mix in Triple-A, Zach Thornton, who allowed five runs in four innings in his last outing, and Jack Wenninger, whose walk rates have deterred the Mets from calling him up sooner, even as his ERA and strikeout numbers look promising this year. Tobias Myers has returned to his bulk role in the big leagues, but he has been inconsistent recently, too.

Perhaps the Mets will look outside the organization for reinforcement, though, as Stearns said when he addressed the media Tuesday, it is not always easy to find players via trade this time of year.

Even so, the Cubs found a much-needed starter late Wednesday night. Maybe the Mets can find one, too.

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