Anonymous MLB executive offers hilarious quote when asked about Freddy Peralta

The Milwaukee Brewers' front office has built a reputation of being one of the sharpest in baseball. While the foundation was certainly laid during the David Stearns era, many of the moves that have led to this distinction have come under the supervision of Milwaukee's current President of Baseball Operations, Matt Arnold. His string of successful transactions has not only led to the Golden Age of Brewers baseball, which includes seven postseason appearances in eight seasons dating back to Stearns' tenure, but it's also caught the attention of executives around the league.

Arnold, who took over as the head of Milwaukee's front office back in October of 2022, when Stearns stepped down in anticipation of his acceptance of the New York Mets' President of Baseball Operations position, has been on the winning side of trades like the William Contreras blockbuster, which went down less than two months after he assumed his new position, and the Andrew Vaughn-Aaron Civale swap which was a large reason for the Brewers' success in 2025. He's also made some impressive under-the-radar transactions, including the acquisitions of Trevor Megill, Jared Koenig, and Nick Mears in the bullpen, as well as Blake Perkins and Isaac Collins in the outfield.

Add to Arnold's impressive resume the handling of two major blockbusters in which Milwaukee gave up an All-Star for controllable talent that is already making an impact at the major league level. While Joey Ortiz and DL Hall have yet to hit their stride in Milwaukee following their inclusion in the Corbin Burnes trade with the Baltimore Orioles, it's not difficult to see the potential that each of them holds. Meanwhile, Arnold turned one season of Devin Williams, who had his worst year to date in a New York Yankees uniform, into a Rookie of the Year finalist third baseman in Caleb Durbin.

Therefore, when it comes to the matter of the Brewers' next potential blockbuster, a trade of Freddy Peralta this offseason, the rest of the baseball world expects Arnold and company to once again make the perfect decision. One anonymous MLB executive said just that when asked about the topic by ESPN's Jess Rogers; however, the language that was used was far more humorous.

Anonymous MLB executive offers hilarious quote to ESPN's Jesse Rogers when asked about Brewers' Freddy Peralta situation

MLB insiders are always searching for the most accurate information from team executives, and occasionally that involves taking names away from quotes. On Wednesday morning, ESPN's MLB insider, Jesse Rogers, did just that; he contacted several MLB executives from around the league and compiled their responses into an expertly crafted article, but made sure not to include their names (Rogers’ article is free to read over at ESPN.com and the link is provided below). When it came to the question, "Who is the top trade candidate of the winter not named Skubal?" Rogers' collection of anonymous insiders was split, but two each selected Joe Ryan, Ketel Marte, and Freddy Peralta.

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While the inclusion of Peralta's name as a top trade candidate from anonymous MLB insiders is concerning, when they elaborated on the topic, it became clear that they truly have no idea which way Arnold and his team are leaning this offseason. Rogers reported that one executive said, "I don't know if Peralta's salary [$8 million] makes him more or less desirable for the [Milwaukee] Brewers to move him, but they'll probably do the opposite of what everyone is thinking!...And it'll work."

The Brewers seldom take the most obvious or most anticipated route when another more advantageous path presents itself, as this anonymous executive is acknowledging. Just last week, when faced with the seemingly binary decision of whether or not to tender a contract to Jake Bauers at the non-tender deadline, the Brewers instead signed him to a one-year, $2.7 million deal, taking an unexpected third option that allows them to avoid the arbitration process altogether. But the second component of the strategy, and one that Rogers' anonymous executive humorously points out, is that those unexpected moves more often than not work out in Milwaukee's favor. Clearly, this reputation that Arnold and his team have built is pervading the league, with rival executives painfully aware of the Brewers' Midas touch.