Potential Mets’ rotation target could be available via trade

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Milwaukee is becoming more open to shopping Peralta, who is under team control for 2026 on a team option that will pay him $8 million. Considering free agent starter Dylan Cease just received $210 million for seven years from Toronto, Peralta would be a massive bargain for teams looking to add an ace-caliber pitcher to their starting five.

Considering the going rate for aces on the free agent market won't be getting any cheaper, Milwaukee could rightly ask for a haul for Peralta. Rosenthal notes that the Brewers feel comfortable listening to offers after Brandon Woodruff accepted a qualifying offer, which could allow them to have him lead a rotation with the likes of Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski and DL Hall while flipping Peralta for a higher return than they could get if they let him leave after the 2026 season for draft pick compensation.

What a Freddy Peralta trade could look like for the Mets

A natural comparison for a Peralta deal would be the haul the Brewers got from Baltimore in the Corbin Burnes trade prior to the 2024 season. The Orioles sent two top prospects, Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz, along with a competitive balance draft pick for the chance to rent Burnes.

There is already significant interest in Peralta, who could be the best pitcher available via trade if Detroit holds onto Skubal (which seems most likely), so the Mets would have to pay up in order to land the Milwaukee ace. Given the Brewers' ambitions to contend for the National League Central again fresh off a 97-win season, Rosenthal reports that Milwaukee would want a major-league ready starting pitcher as part of any package.

While Nolan McLean is likely off limits for the Mets, they could consider parting with either Jonah Tong or Brandon Sproat in a deal for Peralta. Both prospects made their major league debuts last season, although Tong looked as if he could use more seasoning at the Triple-A level after making just two starts for Syracuse before coming to the big league level in September.

Sending one of the top pitching prospects would likely be a good start for a Mets' package, which could then be expanded to include one of the club's excess young infielders like Luisangel Acuña or Ronny Mauricio. Acuña could make sense for the Brewers, who value speed and defense, as a compliment to Ortiz at shortstop that could benefit from more playing time than he will receive in New York.

A third prospect, probably in the Mets' 10-20 range, would probably be necessary to complete a trade. One name who could be appealing is outfielder Nick Morabito, who was recently added to the Mets' 40-man roster, as his contact skills are a good fit for the type of lineup the Brewers like to construct.

If the Mets want to protect their younger pitchers, they could change the composition of the package a bit by offering a pitcher from their current rotation, such as Kodai Senga or David Peterson. Senga could offer some intrigue to Milwaukee as a player with ace-like potential at an affordable rate of two years and $28 million that could benefit from working with the Brewers' pitching apparatus.

Swapping out Tong or Sproat for Senga means the Mets would have to make up the prospect value elsewhere, so this could be a spot where parting with a player like Jett Williams makes sense. Williams is the Mets' second-best position player prospect behind outfielder Carson Benge, but his natural position of second base has been blocked for the next few years after the Mets acquired Marcus Semien in the Brandon Nimmo trade.

There is an argument that the Mets can afford to let Williams keep developing at Triple-A Syracuse and have him begin his career in a utility role before succeeding Semien down the line, but Williams does have a history of wrist injuries and is a physical outlier at only 5-foot-7. The dream scenario for Williams is to become the new version of Jose Altuve, but if Williams follows the career path of former Braves' second baseman Marcus Giles, he is a far less valuable player.

There is tangible upside for Williams, but the Mets have other infield prospects behind him in the pipeline and can afford to let Milwaukee make the bet that they can turn him into the second coming of Altuve. Adding a Top 100 prospect like Williams would be necessary to get a deal done, and there is nothing prohibiting the Mets from trying to extend Peralta if they acquired him.

No matter which route the Mets go, a deal for Peralta would be expensive since they would have to come up with a more appealing offer than any number of teams that could make a run at him as a rental option. It remains to be seen if Stearns would rather part with prospect capital for a younger ace than spending big money on the open market for a pitcher like Framber Valdez or Ranger Suarez, who carry significant downside risk on the back end of long-term deals.

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