The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets are on the verge of a deal to send right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta to New York, according to a report from the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. Peralta will reunite with David Stearns in Queens, while the Brewers will receive multiple pieces in return, a source with knowledge of the talks says.
Picked up by Stearns in a minor trade with the Mariners during his first winter on the job, Peralta can be thought of as arguably the signature success story of Stearns’s tenure with the Brewers. The team developed him into an electric-armed starter, then a Cy Young contender. Two weeks before the world shut down due to COVID in early 2020, the two sides agreed on a team-friendly contract extension that gave the Brewers a great deal on his arbitration-eligible seasons and extended his team control, while giving the team two cheap club options on the final years of the contract. It’s been one of the most team-friendly deals signed by any pitcher in the last decade.
Since Peralta is owed just $8 million in the final year of the deal, the Brewers have maintained a high asking price for him all winter. He won’t turn 30 until June and had arguably the best season of his illustrious career in 2025, going 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA in a career-high 177 innings. Boasting four solid pitches and a greater feel for all of them as he’s matured, he has struck out a dazzling 29.9% of the batters he’s faced in the majors.
A source briefed on the negotiations said the Brewers will get one player with big-league experience and a prospect in exchange for Peralta, who can be a free agent after 2026. The Crew were known to be looking for a controllable starting pitcher as part of a Peralta deal as recently as last week, and the Mets have plenty of those, with a cluster of tantalizing pitching prospects who have already cracked the big leagues. Nolan McLean was off-limits in these discussions, but both Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat are candidates to be included. Milwaukee is also likely to receive one of the Mets’ sudden surfeit of positional prospects, though which tier of player that will be is likely to depend on which of the young arms the Brewers have acquired.
Indeed, Sproat and athletic young hitter Jett Williams will be the haul for the Brewers; Jeff Passan reported those names first on Twitter.
That final piece heading to New York will be swingman Tobias Myers, another victory for the Brewers’ pitching development group who helped Milwaukee secure Sproat in the swap. Both Sproat and Williams have the full compliment of team control remaining, and indeed, Williams has yet to debut in the majors. He batted .261/.363/.465 at Double A and Triple A in 2025, but most of his success came in the lower of those levels. He brings a modicum of power and plus speed, but will require a bit of refinement in the Milwaukee development pipeline. He should help the 2026 Brewers, but might not do so until midseason.
Sproat is a different story. Our Jake McKibbin broke him down as an obvious candidate for this very deal earlier this week, and while there are some important tweaks left to make, he profiles as a ready-made big-league out-getter, on a pitching staff already loaded with them.
The Brewers did what they always seek to do in deals like this one, landing two quality players under long-term team control in exchange for one who will be a free agent soon and another who didn’t fit into their long-term plans. Williams adds intrigue and upside to the infield and outfield mix, while Sproat gives the starting rotation needed depth and a power arm to pair with Jacob Misiorowski. This is a bittersweet occasion, because Peralta has been a highly charismatic performer and a beloved member of the Milwaukee clubhouse, but the team finally cultivated the offer they couldn’t refuse.
Unsurprisingly, the Mets will absorb all of the salary owed to Peralta, a source said. That could give the Brewers more flexibility as they close out the offseason over the coming weeks.