LAS VEGAS – During a break at the GM Meetings on Tuesday, Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold sounded much more like a baseball man ready to make a deal.
“We try to evaluate ourselves as hard as anybody,” Arnold said. “Like, we want to make sure we’re turning over every rock we possibly can to do better, and sometimes that requires making really tough decisions. We’ve had to do that in the past, and we’re prepared to do the same thing this year.”
Arnold’s most valuable chip is right-hander Freddy Peralta, the 29-year-old coming off a season in which he led the National League with 17 victories while making 33 starts, posting a 2.70 ERA and striking out 200 or more for the third straight season.
A couple of weeks ago in the immediate wake of the Brewers’ season-ending loss to the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series, Arnold said he hadn’t yet thought about trading Peralta. Now that tone has shifted, with the offseason underway and Peralta going into his final year of the contract extension he signed in 2020, when he was 23 and just starting his big league career.
The Brewers do not have to trade Peralta this offseason. They could keep him and count on him to lead a young rotation with Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski, Robert Gasser (their No. 18 prospect per MLB Pipeline) and Logan Henderson (No. 5), then consider whether to deal him at the Trade Deadline or hold him to the end of his contract. Milwaukee took the latter strategy with shortstop Willy Adames last offseason, and it wound up with the No. 32 overall Draft pick in 2025 as compensation when he departed after he signed with the Giants last December.
But the club’s history suggests that it’s different with pitchers, given the value and volatility of the position.
In 2020, the Brewers traded Corey Knebel, another All-Star closer, to the Dodgers when he was going into his final year of control. And before that, they dealt steady starters Chase Anderson and Zach Davies when they were one and two years, respectively, from free agency.
For one of the rare examples of holding a healthy All-Star-caliber pitcher going into his final year of control, you have to go all the way back to Zack Greinke in 2012. In that instance, the Brewers dealt him to the Angels for prospects at the Trade Deadline.
In every instance, the Brewers received players in return with multiple years of control. That’s one way they have stacked up seven postseason appearances in the past eight years while maintaining modest payrolls.
“Every situation is really unique,” Arnold said Tuesday when asked specifically about Peralta. “Certainly, every team in the league is interested in Freddy Peralta, but he means a lot to us, too. I would anticipate he’s part of our team.”
Arnold conceded that could change, however.
“Look, I think in all these cases, it’s a tough decision for all of us,” Arnold said. “We’ve had to make tough decisions on the Haders of the world and Corbin Burnes and things like that, and Freddy is certainly in that conversation. We’ll never close the door on anything, just because we’re the smallest market in the league and we have to make tough decisions like that. But, you know, we think he can certainly help us next year.”
Peralta proved valuable to the Brewers on and off the field, working with catcher William Contreras as a mentor to some of the team’s young Spanish-speaking stars like closer Abner Uribe and outfielder Jackson Chourio.
Coming off a demotion and a suspension during a lost 2024 season, Uribe proved he’s Milwaukee’s closer of the future by logging a 1.77 ERA in 80 games between the regular season and postseason. And Chourio avoided a sophomore slump by becoming the youngest player to secure consecutive 20-20 seasons.
Both credited Peralta for helping to guide the way.
“Watching him go from like he’s a teenager to this, Freddy’s the best, man,” Arnold said. “He’s just great. He lights up a room every time, and then when he pitches, he lights up the radar gun and everything else. I mean, he’s just great in every way. I love Freddy a lot.”
