No, The Brewers Aren’t Trading Freddy Peralta At The Deadline

A PSA to everyone who’s mentioned Peralta as a possible trade candidate

No, the Brewers aren’t going to trade Freddy Peralta.

That seems like it should be a foregone conclusion. The Brewers are 61-41 and have the best record in baseball. The Detroit Tigers aren’t going to trade Tarik Skubal for prospects at the deadline. The Chicago Cubs aren’t going to trade Shota Imanaga for prospects at the deadline. Heck, the Cardinals won’t even trade Sonny Gray at the deadline.

I know Milwaukee is a small-market ballclub, and they do have a wealth of pitching options. Maybe Peralta gets traded for prospects at the 2025 Winter Meetings. That’s certainly within the realm of possibility.

However, what the Brewers won’t do is trade their ace in the middle of a playoff push.

So, why do I keep seeing articles talking about whether or not they will?

From Sports Illustrated:

Milwaukee Brewers fans have been frightened about losing their ace.

Despite Milwaukee’s sparkling 56-40 record entering the second half — which has the Crew within one game of the division-leading Chicago Cubs — trade rumors have continued swirling around two-time All-Star Freddy Peralta.

Another Sports Illustrated piece, suggesting that the Brewers could trade Peralta to a probable playoff opponent:

The Brewers, who could have more healthy starters than spots by the time the deadline arrives, have shown in the past that they’re willing to operate in a counterculture manner if the right opportunity presents itself. (Remember the Josh Hader trade?)

“Given the expected state of the market, Peralta could be the top available starter, creating the possibility that the Brewers could leverage other clubs to net an impressive return.”

A desperate New York Mets club, who trail the Philadelphia Phillies by 1.5 games in the NL East, could be the last thing to tip the Brewers to move on from Peralta.

From ESPN’s “list of potential trade candidates that will be updated regularly depending on their performance”:

Peralta has been a steady presence for years, averaging 140 innings pitched with a 3.49 ERA over the past four seasons. He’s on track to do that again, with his heavily used fastball coming in at a career-high average velo of 94.9 mph this season. He has an ultra-cheap $8 million option for 2026.

Best fits: Boston, Houston, Toronto, St. Louis, Arizona, San Diego, Baltimore

UPDATE: Peralta was removed from the list in between the writing and publishing of this article.

From Bleacher Report:

More so than with Bregman and the Red Sox, though, there’s a financial reality at play with Peralta and Milwaukee. He’s in the last guaranteed year of his contract, and his attempts to get a new deal have reportedly gone nowhere. It may be that the notoriously frugal Brewers are wary over making a deal they might regret.

If the Brewers traded Peralta in the middle of a contention run, it would surely be an unpopular move…but not an unprecedented one. Though the Josh Hader trade of 2022 didn’t go over well, it happened all the same and the club is no worse off for it three years later.

One more, at a time where Milwaukee had won 10 consecutive games:

Even poor Freddy has had to answer questions about the possibility of a trade.

I know a lot of these takes are prefaced with “this is unlikely, but” or “this probably won’t happen, but” or “they might not, but they should.” Why is it even being discussed as a possibility?

Most of these “the Brewers might trade Freddy Peralta” takes mention the 2022 Josh Hader trade. I assume most people reading this remember the context of the trade, but as a reminder: the Brewers traded Hader, their star reliever, at the trade deadline for prospects despite ranking first in the NL Central with a 57-45 record. Thus, the rationale for trading Peralta is that the Brewers front office has “shown in the past” that they’re willing to trade star pitchers in the middle of a successful season.

Do none of the people throwing out these takes actually remember what happened after? Sure, the Brewers are “no worse off three years later,” but they were definitely worse off in 2022.

First, there was a minor mutiny in the clubhouse:

Then, their season fell apart. Milwaukee lost more games than they won for the rest of 2022. The Brewers finished second in the division and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

None of the players acquired for Hader did anything for the 2022 Brewers. Taylor Rogers, the only player who was intended to have an immediate impact, had a 5.48 ERA as a Brewer. Esteury Ruiz appeared in three games (although he was later traded in the William Contreras deal). Dinelson Lamet was immediately DFA’ed and now plays for El Águila de Veracruz. Robert Gasser looked great when he ultimately debuted with the Brewers (in 2024), but tore his UCL five starts into his career.

In short, Milwaukee’s front office has learned from its mistake. They aren’t going to risk their most promising team since 2018 by trading their ace.

A few other major differences between the Brewers team that traded Hader and this year’s team:

1. Milwaukee has a different coach (Pat Murphy) and general manager (Matt Arnold).
2. Milwaukee has the best record in baseball.
3. Peralta, an All-Star who sports a 2.85 ERA and leads the league in wins (12), has been a mainstay in a rotation devastated by injuries during the early part of the season. Milwaukee has a lot of pitching depth right now, but that’s not a guarantee for the rest of the season. In 2022, Hader had a 4.24 ERA before the trade. He was certainly still a stud, but I’d argue that 2025 Peralta is more valuable than 2022 Hader was (an assertion backed by WAR).
4. Milwaukee also doesn’t really need prospects right now. Yes, I know every small-market team wants to have a stacked farm system, and prospects aren’t a sure thing. With that being said, there are not a lot of weaknesses in the farm system right now. Fangraphs ranks Milwaukee’s farm system as the fourth best in the league. In 2022, they were ranked 24th at the beginning of the season (before the Hader trade) and 16th by the end of the season.

So, no, Freddy Peralta isn’t going to be a Met this season. Or a Dodger. Or a Yankee. He’s a Brewer, and he’ll be a Brewer in October. Peralta is a clubhouse leader who has been a steady presence at the top of the rotation and is a key reason why the Brewers have the best record in baseball.

He’s a great pitcher, and I know it’s fun for national sportswriters to peg him as the perfect trade candidate for a big market team in need of rotation help. Milwaukee is gearing up to make a run of their own; they’re not a farm team for the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees. Matt Arnold and the Brewers front office are aware of how important Peralta is to this Brewers team, both in the clubhouse and on the field.

Maybe instead of fantasizing about how good Peralta would be for the Dodgers, writers could shine a light on just how good Peralta has been for the Brewers? America should root for the Brewers because a small-market team succeeding is exciting and good for baseball, not because it would make a salary cap less likely.

The Brewers have the best record in baseball and have learned from the Hader trade. They’re not going to deal their ace at the Trade Deadline. Stop talking about it.