Brewers News: Freddy Peralta Signs Long-Term Contract Extension

As of this morning, RHP Freddy Peralta has decided he’s staying with the Milwaukee Brewers for a little bit longer.

After making his Spring Training debut on February 25th, according to MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal, the lefty has finalized a long-term extension with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Peralta still had several years of team control remaining, having not yet reached arbitration.

The long-term deal, according to multiple sources is said to be a five year deal plus two options, $15.5M is guaranteed and has two other options that could potentially bring the Brewers $30M. This does buy out Peralta’s arbitration years, and a few years that would be free agency. The Brewers can now have control of Peralta for seven more years, through the 2026 season.

This is a very inexpensive extension for the Brewers, as Peralta’s AAV is just $3.1MM over the next five years. If Peralta reaches his potential, stays in the rotation, and pitches to his ability, this contract is a straight up steal for the Brewers. He could vastly outpitch his contract over the next 5-7 years, similar to the way Christian Yelich has outplayed his contract extension.

Why Freddy Peralta?

Peralta made his major league debut with the Brewers in 2018 where he posted a 4.25 ERA and had a 6-4 record in the 16 games he pitched. 14 of those games were starts.

2019 seemed to be a bit of a struggle for Peralta. However, this offseason really gave fans an entire different look at him and how he’s added a new slider to his arsenal. In the offseason, Peralta signed to Toros del Este, a team in the Dominican Winter League, where he pitched 20 innings and posted an ERA of 1.35 with 34 strikeouts. 

Peralta is looking very likely to have a better 2020 season after his struggling 2019 season. Peralta has working on his slider, which is something that really helped strengthen him while playing in the Winter League. According to sources, Craig Counsell has stated that he’s happy with what Peralta has shown. Counsell has also mentioned that Peralta is in the mix for the fifth starter spot, however, LHP Eric Lauer and RHP Corbin Burnes are also in consideration for that fifth and final starting position.

The Brewers clearly like what they see from Peralta and believe that he can bring great value on the field and locked him up on a long term extension before he racked up some big numbers.

It’ll be interesting to see how the season plays out for Peralta and if signing this long term contract extension is really a good idea on the Brewers’ part.