If the Milwaukee Brewers made Freddy Peralta openly available, he would be perhaps the hottest commodity on the offseason trade market. In the course of a Cy Young-caliber season, Peralta went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA and 204 strikeouts. There isn’t a team in baseball who wouldn’t want him in the rotation.
The flip side, of course, is that Peralta’s asking price will be very high. Very, very high from the Brewers’ perspective. Entering the final year of his contract, trading Peralta for some combination of prospects and/or established talent is something the team has to consider, but right now, Milwaukee appears fully prepared to ride out 2026 on Peralta’s $8 million salary and let him find a new home in free agency.
Brewers untempted by Peralta offers thus far
After reports earlier this offseason that the Brewers were actively shopping their ace, those talks died down, in large part because no one ponied up an appealing offer. That’s still the case, though it’s not like suitors have stopped calling.
“We obviously get hits on him all the time,” said general manager Matt Arnold, via MLB.Com’s Adam McCalvy. “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.”
For a small-market team like the Brewers, improving on 2025 could be difficult. A franchise-record 97 wins. The first playoff series win in seven years. A trip to the NLCS. The Brewers have been perennial postseason contenders for some time now, but is last season’s magic repeatable?
Having Peralta lead the pitching staff certainly ups their chances. After a tantalizing if up-and-down rookie year, Jacob Misiorowski will be entering year two. Brandon Woodruff is coming back (as ever, the question is whether he can stay healthy). Quinn Priester reinvented himself as a high-quality No. 2 starter in 2025. After that, the Brewers can turn to their slew of young pitchers – Chad Patrick, Robert Gasser, Logan Henderson, Tobias Myers – or add an arm in free agency. With Peralta in town the rotation is in a good place.
And that’s to say nothing of an offense that remains fully intact after finishing third in runs last year.
As far as Peralta and the rotation, for now at least, fans should count on having him toe Opening Day rubber once again.
“I’m not sure that there’s a scenario that’s been presented that would make any sense for us,” Arnold said.
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