Brewers' Freddy Peralta linked to four AL contenders in trade discussions as offseason approaches

Douglas Santo

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Brewers' Freddy Peralta linked to four AL contenders in trade discussions as offseason approaches image

The Milwaukee Brewers are notorious for not spending on players. The Brewers are a small market team and get the most out of their players before they sign their first big extension.

The lone outlier is outfielder Christian Yelich. Other than that, the Brewers build pitchers up and then usually lose them to either free agency or trade them in their final contract year to get something in return.

That will likely be the case for star pitcher Freddy Peralta. The All-Star will be in the final year of his contract in 2026, and should get a big payday in free agency. The Athletic's Jim Bowden ranked Peralta as the No. 2 candidate to be traded this offseason.

Four AL contenders linked to Freddy Peralta

Peralta has played all eight years of his career in Milwaukee and he's developed into one of the best pitchers in the MLB and the Brewers' ace.

The Brewers' pitcher had a career-year, with a 2.70 ERA across 176.2 innings pitched and 204 strikeouts, and made his second All-Star game.

Similarly to pitcher Corbin Burnes a few years ago, the Brewers are expected to pick up Peralta's $8 million team option for 2026 and then trade him to get something in return before he hits free agency.

"Peralta is coming off the best year of his career as he’s really figured out how to use and mix his dominant stuff," Bowden wrote. "Fastball Freddy held opposing batters to a.209 average against his four-seamer,.173 against his changeup,.183 against his curveball and.157 against his slider. He’s a true top-of-the-rotation ace at age 29."

There will be plenty of teams interested in Peralta with his elite 2025 season and not even 30-years-old yet, including four American League teams that could be in playoff contention in 2026.

The Houston Astros will likely lose pitcher Framber Valdez in free agency, and Peralta would be the perfect replacement in the rotation alongside Hunter Brown.

The Boston Red Sox could pursue Peralta as they have a lot of money to work with after the Rafael Devers trade, and the Brewers' ace would pair great with Garrett Crochet at the top of the rotation.

The Baltimore Orioles have also been linked to Peralta, and it wouldn't be a surprise as the Brewers and Orioles have already worked together in the Burnes trade.

Lastly, the Los Angeles Angels could be a sneaky team to trade for Peralta. The Angels are in a rebuilding phase, but have some cornerstone pieces for the future. The addition of Peralta would give them their ace in the rotation and some leadership despite just being 29 years old.

With the World Series starting on Friday, the baseball offseason is getting very close, and there could be a lot of moving pieces in 2026.

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