Freddy Peralta Trade Reportedly Will Be Explored by Brewers After MLB All-Star Season

The Milwaukee Brewers are expected to listen to trade offers for All-Star starting pitcher Freddy Peralta this offseason, The Athletic's Andy McCullough reported Saturday.

The Brewers hold an $8 million club option for Peralta, but McCullough expects the club to "feel compelled to at least explore the market for his services, especially given the relative weakness of this class of free-agent pitchers."

Peralta, who turned 30 in June, recorded a 2.70 ERA and 1.075 WHIP through 33 starts and 176.2 innings pitched last season.

The report comes days after he started for the Brewers in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Peralta struck out four batters, but allowed five hits and three runs, as the Brewers suffered the second of four straight losses in the Dodgers' sweep of the NLCS.

When asked about his future with the club after the Brewers were eliminated Friday with a 5-1 Game 4 loss, Peralta answered, "I have no idea."

"What I can say is I've been here forever and I love this. I love the city of Milwaukee, the team, everyone here," Peralta continued (h/t MLB.com's Adam McCalvy). "And that's coming from the bottom of my heart. At the end of the day I understand this is a business and I understand that anything can happen."

The Brewers faced a similar situation regarding a starting pitcher with one year remaining on his contract when deciding what to do with Corbin Burnes ahead of the 2024 season.

Milwaukee ultimately dealt the 29-year-old to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Joey Ortiz, DL Hall and a draft pick.

Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said at the time that the Brewers made the trade because they were "excited" about Oritz and Hall and because "the reality of our situation is that we had one year left with Corbin," per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Arnold will now have to decide whether to take a similar stance on Peralta, especially if contract season struggles from top pending free-agent pitchers like Framber Valdez and Dylan Cease drive up the starter's potential trade price.

But after coming as far as the NLCS for the first time in six years, the Brewers could also decide to keep Peralta in Milwaukee for an affordable final year of his contract and another potential postseason push in 2026.