There hasn’t been much movement at the top of the free agent rotation market. Most of the focus on starting pitching has been on the trade front, though we didn’t see any major deals at the Winter Meetings.
Most of the top trade candidates are questionable to move at all. Brewers star Freddy Peralta is among that group. Milwaukee isn’t motivated to trade the All-Star righty on the heels of a 97-win season, but they’re not going to shut down conversations entirely. They’ve heard from no shortage of teams with interest. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic report that the Astros, Giants, Mets, Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees are among the clubs that have reached out about Peralta.
The wide range of suitors is to be expected. Houston, San Francisco, Baltimore and the Mets all have starting pitching at or near the top of the priority list. The Astros are focusing on the trade market as they try to stay below the luxury tax line. The Giants and Mets have ample payroll flexibility but have downplayed their desire to make long-term commitments to a starter. The Orioles are casting a wide net to find an impact arm who can slot in the upper half of the rotation. They’ve been tied to Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez in free agency, as well as trade possibilities like Edward Cabrera and MacKenzie Gore.
The Yankees will begin the season without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón due to injury. Clarke Schmidt may miss the entire season rehabbing Tommy John surgery. They’re set to open the season with Max Fried and Cam Schlittler in the top two spots. Will Warren and Luis Gil project as the third and fourth arms for now, and they don’t have a fifth starter lined up. Warren had a solid rookie season but struggled with the home run ball. Gil was the Rookie of the Year in 2024. This year, he was limited to 57 innings with mediocre strikeout and walk numbers after missing a few months with a lat strain.
Boston isn’t as clearly in need of starting pitching. They entered the offseason pursuing a #2 starter. They’ve acquired Sonny Gray to fill that role and brought in Johan Oviedo as a back-end option. The focus is on adding a big bat or two, but they’ve been tied to virtually every free agent or trade candidate of significance.
Peralta fits on every contender. He’ll make $8MM in the final season of what turned out to be a dramatically team-friendly extension. He’s coming off a career-low 2.70 ERA and finished fifth in NL Cy Young balloting. This was the third straight season in which he reached 200 strikeouts and started 30+ games. The Brewers fully expect to compete for another division title themselves. They’ve pulled the trigger on trades of stars with dwindling club control windows (e.g. Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes) to remain consistently competitive, though that’s not an absolute. They were happy to hold Willy Adames all the way to free agency.
Adames rejected a qualifying offer and netted a compensatory draft pick when he signed with the Giants. Barring injury, Peralta would be a near lock to do the same if Milwaukee holds him all year. That’d net them a compensatory pick after the first round of the 2027 draft — assuming he signs for at least $50MM. Milwaukee would be entitled to the highest level of compensation as a revenue sharing recipient.
Obviously, the Brewers could extract a far greater return for even one year of Peralta’s services on the trade market. They’re balancing that against the hit it’d deal to the 2026 team. Brandon Woodruff is back to join Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick in what would still be a high-upside rotation. Every club would be better with Peralta on it, though.
President of baseball operations Matt Arnold addressed the Peralta rumors shortly before the Winter Meetings. “I’m not sure that there’s a scenario that’s been presented that would make any sense for us,” Arnold said last week (link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). “We obviously get hits on him all the time. He’s a very popular target, certainly. But he’s also a huge part of our team and we want to be competitive in 2026. A big part of this is bringing back the core that we had last year.”
I’d bet my life savings, if I had any, that, if Peralta goes to the Astros, Cam Smith will be part of the return.
I much rather Yankees bring back King only cost money and save prospects for someone better. I’m not sold on Peralta
@mlbnyyfan-Yeah definitely agree with you about this 100%. Imai or King would be fine for the rotation.
A’s signing Mark Leiter Jr
Sounds realistic.
Yeah definitely. Freddy is too volatile.
2.70 era is “volatile” eh?
🤔
It would make zero sense for the Astros to trade Cam Smith for one-year of Peralta even after losing Valdez.
It would make zero sense to trade Smith at all!
Alan53, I hope you didn’t bet your life savings on that
His life savings is mid 3 figures so he’ll be ok
Mid 3 figures?
That guy is not independent.
True, but the Astros don’t always make good trades; the Brewers usually do. And the Brewers turn players like Smith into stars. And, the Brewers like to stick it to the Cubs when they can, and this would be that, too.
It’s because the Astros don’t always make good trades, it’s because they are questionable. Just like Kickuchi trade.
The Astros won’t offer Smith. According to SI, “”The talent is off the charts. He could be a star one day. We all know that,” Brown stated. What makes you think you could trade him.
Alan do you follow the Astros or are you just a Brewers fan.
The only thing wrong with the Kikuchi trade was the fact that they didn’t hang on to him.
@ASTROS27: Since you ask, I am a Cubs fan, and I’ve learned the hard way to respect the Brewers’ smarts. They would ask for Smith to troll the Cubs. We’ll see if the Astros would give him up.
FWIW, I think that Peralta is more likely to go to the Yankees or Padres if he goes at all.
The attempt was feeble. I don’t recall them giving him a contract extension, instead focusing on Walker. They could’ve beat Kickuchi’s 63 million or something by giving him more for 4 years.
And they didn’t win the WS.
If they ask for Smith, the Astros won’t make the trade. I don’t think they’ll be willing to give up that much. Peralta is not going to the Astros Dana Brown focus on other starters.
The Astros will not trade a player they believe can be a star with development for a rental pitcher, despite how good Peralta is, Smith will not go.
Astros won’t move Smith for a rental.
The only player they will move Smith for is Skenes. And Skenes is not getting moved. So yeah.
Except, the brewers really don’t need an outfielder. They have Chourio, Frelick and if they’re still high on Mitchell despite all his injuries.
Well, Smithi s talented enough, so if the Astros offer Smith (which they won’t), they’ll make room.
Good thing you don’t have savings because you wouldn’t after this bet. There is no way Cam would be part of this deal, lol !
Shame on the Brewers if they trade him because of payroll reasons. Brewers were 12th in attendance, right behind Boston and Houston at like 2.6M. They were 18th in payroll. They are a legitimate team that can win the World Series. I understand each owner/group runs it as their own business. Just don’t talk about how winning is the top priority.
Attendance revenue is peanuts compared to marketing/tv deals.
Owners write-off players as depreciating assets, let that sink in.
sbmcintosh36@gmail.com You don’t even know what a write off is. Do you?
40% is peanuts?
The Brewers are a pitching factory, as the White Sox well know after snatching Shane Smith in last year’s Rule 5 draft. They use pitchers nearing free agency as trade currency because it makes more sense to get young talent that they can develop than risk a long-term contract on a pitcher in his 30s. Look what happened to Corbin Burnes.
Given the Brewers market they will never be odds on favorites for a world series, but they have some chance if they get in, so they take a bites of the apple strategy. If the Brewers weren’t turning guys like Hader, Burnes, and Devin into cost controlled young players the window would already be shut, and there is no way they could buy the players needed to get into the dance.
The Brewers would be happy having Freddy pitch for them if they dont find the right deal, but because they do care about winning they will cash him in if someone offers enough.
Should not be trading Peralta at all. If the roles were reversed regarding Peralta vs. Woodruff. They would have never offered a 22M QO to an injury prone Peralta period!! But Woody is one of Pat and MA’s boys.
The 22M QO to injury prone Woodruff is going to haunt the Brewers for at least the next couple years. Should have offered Freddy a contract in that range for 3-6. years. Unfortunately, the MKE front office doesn’t think that way for certain players. Which is why ONE WS appearance over 40 years ago in 50+ years of the franchise existence!
Sick and tired of hearing the “smallest market” excuse over the past twenty plus years for penny pinching on certain types of players and greed.
Every team is interested in every player
Perfect Onion headline.
I’d rather have the Astros go after controllable players.
Sox in on him too however let’s translate that in Breslow’s world:
Hi I’m Craig Breslow and I’m interested in this 2026 Range Rover……what that really means is I will take that 2000 Pontiac Aztec with 230,000 miles on it parked in the corner without the battery in it.
He’s a joke
Actually the Pontiac might just be the better buy, but I get your point.
lol
Just ask Walter White. Pontiac Aztec is a solid vehicle.
I’m also interested in trading the cinder blocks it’s currently sitting on for a set of nice wheels and new tires.
Probably worth more than what Breslow’s willing to spend lol
Wow way to just kill it bro
Hilarious
Greatest vehicle is the 4 wheel drive AMC Eagle! Saw one for $5k a while back and am still kicking myself.
Peralta is very good — but volatile. When he’s on, he’s a #1/#2 caliber starter. But he has: inconsistent command, high-effort delivery & past shoulder/elbow flags. He’s not a “bankable ace”. You don’t dump premium prospects for someone who might be elite for one year, it is not how any front office should build their pipeline.
“Volatile”?
30+ GS 2023, 2024, 2025.
Rock solid peripherals that barely change.
.
It’s only fluky changes in ERA that made trivial swings look bigger than they were. I’ll give you his HR/9 as a weakness, but the rate isn’t volatile, it’s just a little higher than you’d like.
I love how they mention that Boston is in on every available player. They are certainly coming up in every discussion, now the question is will they actually sign or trade for any of these big names. No big bat yet and no second ace.
Interest kings at it again. Soon enough we’ll be hearing the same old sob story about not being able to “find alignment” with anyone but that’s okay because Triston Casas and Patrick Sandoval are actually the two studs this team was missing all along…
Dirty – I was thinking the exact same thing!
They never blame themselves for always missing out on the in-demand free agents, they always so “Oh well, we just didn’t align”.
Dirty- If Casas and Sandoval turn out to be the two studs on the team, I will go out and buy a duck costume to get ready for the boats driving through Boston in October. I wish.
Uncle – You know the Sox are gonna hype Gray as a “big name acquisition”.
Fever- You are probably right about Gray being the “ace” Breslow said he was going to get. I am not giving up hope quite yet that they won’t add another starter and I would assume they will get at least one reliever since they lost some of the solid bullpen pieces to free agency.
uncle – I think Tolle and Hicks will be given every opportunity in the bullpen.
Fever-If they can get Hicks figured out that could be a huge win for the bullpen. I have pretty much written him off. We have definitely not seen what Tolle is capable of yet, if he is not traded I would assume we will see development this year.
JH needs more-bigger BLM signs in/outside of Fenway. Does he still require peasants to show their Covid vaccination cards to get into Fenway? How about raising bleacher seats from $75 to $100??
Small market teams need to be creative in financially engineering their bs excuses.
noname – These days they are pushing BLM to mean “Boston Losing Money” …… one of the most outrageous claims we’ve ever heard.
It’s like Elon saying he can’t afford 2-ply toilet paper.
Not happening. The Astros are looking for controllable middle of the rotation pitching.
Think the Yanks hold all the cards here. If they’re willing to include Andujar and Frazier, Peralta is in pinstripes.
Jesus, aren’t you tired of the same old jokes? I know I am of hearing them. You must think you are funny, sorry to break the bad news.
“Peralta fits on every contender.”
Would he make the Dodger rotation?
@Geoff. How long will those players be a running joke. haha. Yes we know if Cashman traded them originally for Cole instead of Houston. Judge probably already has a championship or two.
He’d probably be #2 or 3 in April, after Spring Training sidelined three or four of their ‘aces.’
Dodgers had one guy who pitched more than 112 innings, and only two starters with as many as 20 starts. They can absolutely use Freddy Peralta.
Did anyone on the Dodgers pitching staff have 17 wins last year? The object is to win the game right?
The Cubs make sense because of all the prospects the Brewers would be looking for. I don’t know if the Yankees or Astros have at least 3 good prospects they can afford to give up.
Not to briefed on the I-94 rivalry are ya? We consider Clownsell a traitor for choosing to sellout and become a FIB. Peralta is a Cub killer. To send him to Chicago would be the end of Matt Arnold in Milwaukee.
Trades within the division aren’t very likely, especially the Cubs atm
@Goose
For what it’s worth, the Yanks currently have 4 guys in the mlb top 100 list. Also, for what it’s worth, none of Rice, Schlittler, Durbin (3b/2b traded to the Brewers), the starting rookie catcher Agustin Ramirez (traded to Marlins) and Carlos Navaraez (starting C traded to the Red Sox) were ever top 100 rated prospects. We tend to go by rankings whereas teams scout and often find guys they like that aren’t heralded yet or at all. That being said I dint think Petals would warrant 3 top prospects.
It would be wise to hold onto Peralta until the trade deadline to see if the Crew need him for a playoff push or not. He’s a leader in the clubhouse and best friends with Woodruff. Let’s see how it goes before we break up the band. I don’t think the trade package will be any less if the Brewers wait and see how they start the season.
I don’t want Yankees giving up prospects for Peralta. I’d take Hunter Green if Yankees are too cheap to bring back King
King can’t stay healthy and they’ll have to give up a draft pick if they sign him. Would much prefer them to pass on King.
The Brewers aren’t willing to trade him because they think they will be out of it, it has nothing to do with buyers/sellers or winning/losing in 26. The Brewers would only trade him for a package that they think still allows them to compete this year, while gaining players that can help beyond 26 as well.
Given the fallout from the Hader deadline deal, I think it will be a long time before Milwaukee sells a player while in contention, so its now or never.
No way should the Yanks consider Peralta. His fly ball/homer tendency would not play well in New York. Bring back King who has already established himself as a player who can handle NY. When all the starters are back and healthy, they could even move him back into the pen as a high leverage reliever/closer option.
And the last time the Yankees traded for a Milwaukee pitcher, it cost the Bombers their 3rd baseman of the future in Caleb Durbin.
Durbin was the “3B of the future?” Want him back? I don’t see anything special about the guy except he fits the Brewer salary structure and is the typical MKE FO acquisition of a certain mold they covet.
While I agree with you that the Yankees shouldn’t trade with a high cost for Peralta, King isn’t signing with the Yankees for a bullpen role.
Isn’t Milwaukee HR friendly?
Would love to see a trade to the yankees here and I would have no issue trading as prospect and more as long as he works out a extension! Yankees trading prospects for 1 year and then leave as a free agent kinda stinks. I would include will warren as well as part. But the yankees do need another pitcher whether it be imai or Peralta. To me king is going to end up on the DL not sure at this point thats the correct move. He’s a good pitcher but the yankees need a stable arm to start the year and I can see him needing TJ the final week of spring training
Astros don’t really have the prospects to pull off this kind of trade.
Says Yanks don’t have a fifth starter lined up. Although they are looking, the article doesn’t say that they could use Yarbrough as the fifth starter for the beginning of the season then drop him into the bullpen in say late April or May when Rodon is expected to return. Cole back in May or June. Just need a temp. He did ok as temp last season.
I dont know what Milw needs to gain in trading Peralta. What’s their weakness? Arnold’s interview said something like they went the big bulky route and now doing the smaller route. Ortiz was the weakness. SPs being injured to start the season. Caleb Durbin is 3b. Ortiz SS. Contreras C. What do they actually need? They just lost 4 prospects to AAA rule 5 draft. The team is a 90+ win team on paper. Quero/Made are next up stars. Any trade the Crew make should look dumb for what the other team gave up. Like the top international signings of any of the last 2 years already proving they are a Chourio/Made in due time.
As a Brewers fan, I need the offer to be crazy in order to move him. They do have a glut of starting pitchers, but very few outside of Woodruff, Peralta and Priester have much big league experience.
Let’s get Cody B signed ASAP. Priority #1 protect Judge & top fielder
Cashman get on it!!
Yanks shud move Judge to 1B/DH before his elbow blows out—how more yrs does he have?
Freddy ‘Kruger’ Peralta gives hitters nightmares. Trade value is never going to be any higher.