6 hours ago 2

MLB Analyst Lists Key Brewers Player as Surprise Trade Candidate

Freddy Peralta has been an important part of the Brewers rotation for years

The Milwaukee Brewers do not shy away from the fact that they are a small market club and have to make decisions and transactions that reflect that, much to the chagrin of the fanbase.

While trading away players with dwindling team control is generally in the best long-term interest of the club, it can be rather uncomfortable to actually pull off. It's especially uncomfortable mid-season when the team is still competing for a playoff spot.

However, that hasn't stopped ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel from listing Brewers ace Freddy Peralta as the 4th-biggest name who could be moved at this year's July Trade Deadline.

Brewers' Freddy Peralta a trade candidate?

Passan and McDaniel gave Peralta a 20% chance of being moved at this year's Trade Deadline.

"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." they wrote.

They listed seven teams as fits for Peralta, including the Red Sox, Astros, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Padres, and Orioles.

The Brewers sit in 2nd place in the NL Central, just 3.5 games back of the Cubs entering play on Tuesday. They are in the thick of the division race and a wild card spot. They do not look like sellers at this point. There's still over a month until the deadline and a lot can change between now and then but this Brewers team looks on the upswing.

However, that didn't stop the Brewers in 2022 when they were in first place and traded closer Josh Hader with a year and a half of team control remaining. Since then, whenever the Brewers have a player approaching that amount of control left, the rumors begin to swirl on if they'll be traded.

The blowback from that Hader trade was immense and the Brewers appear to have learned their lesson from how that trade went down and the impact of dealing a key player mid-season like that. It's highly unlikely, in my opinion, that the Brewers would make such a move with Peralta unless they were completely out of the hunt and collapse over the next few weeks.

This season, Peralta has a 2.76 ERA in 16 starts and has been every bit the ace the Brewers have needed him to be.

Peralta's club option for next year is extremely affordable, even for the budget-conscious Brewers. It's been reported by other outlets that Peralta has unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a contract extension with Milwaukee. If they won't extend Peralta, might they be willing to move him before he hits free agency?

While dealing him this summer would net the maximum return, an offseason trade is far more likely if Peralta gets traded at all. Peralta is an integral leader in that Brewers clubhouse and he could be more in the vein of Willy Adames where the team keeps him to free agency because of that.

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