Freddy Peralta Trade Rumors: The Mets Might Flip Him Just Six Months After Getting Him
Freddy Peralta might be one of the strangest trade candidates on the market this July. The Mets acquired him from the Milwaukee Brewers back in January, and now, less than six months later, they might already be shopping him.
The problem is that the Peralta trade has not worked out for the Mets. Since arriving in New York, Peralta is 5-7 with a 4.81 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Those numbers do not look like the pitcher who put up a 2.70 ERA over 33 starts for the Brewers last season. Something has been off, and the Mets have not fixed it.
The trade cost Peralta a top three prospect in Jett Williams, who was MLB’s No. 30 overall, and a top five prospect in Brandon Sproat. Both were players who figured to have real roles in Queens by now. That kind of price for a starter who is going to hit free agency after the season needs to yield results, and it has not.
Now the Mets have to decide what to do next. New York is in sell mode this deadline. The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza last week. The team is not going anywhere in the National League East. President of baseball operations David Stearns is going to be actively working the phones over the next four weeks.
Peralta is a natural trade candidate because he is on an expiring contract. He is due $8 million on a club option this season, which is dirt cheap for a starter of his caliber. Even at his current diminished performance, a contender looking for rotation depth could take a low cost gamble on Peralta rediscovering his 2025 form.
The irony of the situation is not lost on anyone. Stearns was the Brewers general manager when Milwaukee acquired Peralta in 2015. He oversaw Peralta’s development into an ace. He then traded significant prospect capital to bring him to New York. Now he might be selling him for a fraction of that return. This is the risk of buying veterans on expiring deals.
The Brewers themselves are a fascinating potential landing spot. Milwaukee is dealing with Brandon Woodruff going back on the IL with the same labrum issue that already cost him six weeks earlier this year. The Brewers rotation just took a hit, and adding Peralta back at his low base salary would give them insurance heading into October. There is a certain symmetry to that trade.
The Padres have been described as buyers looking specifically for a starter to strengthen their rotation. Peralta at his best is a middle rotation upside play with strikeout stuff, which is exactly the profile San Diego needs. If the price is right, the Padres could take a swing.
The Tampa Bay Rays are another team that has been floated. Tampa has a history of buying pitchers with underlying skill sets that other teams have given up on. Peralta strikeout numbers are still good even with the ERA problems. The Rays might see a fix that the Mets have not been able to make happen.
What Peralta gets back is unlikely to be anywhere close to what the Mets gave up. That is a hard reality for Stearns. Sometimes trades do not work, and the smart move is to acknowledge the loss and reset the roster. Losing on a Peralta trade less than a year after acquiring him is a bad look for a front office, but keeping him and getting nothing in return this fall would be worse.
Peralta himself is a professional and has kept his frustration in check publicly. He is 29 and going to hit free agency as a starting pitcher who was an All-Star last year. Even his rough half in New York will not scare off every team this winter. He gets to reset in a new city this fall and get back on the market with real upside.
For the Mets, this trade is a cautionary tale about aggressive winter moves that do not account for how much can change in six months.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
