Brewers' first 2025-26 offseason acquisition fits their strategy perfectly

The offseason is upon us, and while free agents are not yet able to sign with new teams, and trades are prevented until after the World Series, teams still can find creative ways to add players to their roster for the 2026 season and beyond. One such way is by claiming players that have been placed on waivers by other teams.

Just moments ago, the Milwaukee Brewers utilized this strategy to make their first transaction of the 2025-26 offseason, claiming left-handed reliever Sammy Peralta off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels. Peralta, though his numbers don't necessarily jump off the page, has some intriguing qualities that could make him an effective addition to the Brewers' bullpen in 2026, assuming Chris Hook and the Brewers' pitching department can once again work their magic.

Brewers claim Sammy Peralta off waivers from Los Angeles Angels

The Brewers have become known for taking pitchers who were cast-off by their former clubs after periods of underperformance and turning them into effective big-league arms capable of covering high-leverage innings.

The most recent example of this phenomenon taking place is the transformation of Grant Anderson. Anderson joined the Brewers last offseason after a season with the Texas Rangers during which he posted an ERA of 8.10 in 23 appearances. In his first year in Milwaukee, Anderson improved to a 3.23 ERA in 66 appearances, while also covering more important innings than he did in Arlington.

It wasn't just luck that Anderson became a far more effective reliever in Milwaukee; he always had the tools to be a successful reliever, with above-average Stuff+ and Location+ to prove it, but he required a pitching department like the Brewers' that knew how to get the most out of his pitches. As a result, his slider, which is now considered a sweeper by Statcast's metrics, gained 6.6 inches of horizontal movement after he joined Milwaukee, a large reason for his barrel and whiff rates improving considerably in 2025.

Sammy Peralta is a similar story: he has a funky 16-degree arm angle, he's coming off a season in which he carried a 7.59 ERA (albeit in just five appearances), and he has the tools to become a highly effective big-league reliever. Not only is his delivery deceiving; you need only watch the video below to discern that much, but he also generates good movement on his pitches.

Despite not being a hard thrower (Peralta averages just 89 mph on his best fastball offering, a sinker), the former member of the Angels and Chicago White Sox grades well when it comes to Stuff+, a metric that uses movement and velocity to compare a pitcher's arsenal of pitches to the rest of the league. Peralta has a career Stuff+ score of 103, meaning his pitches are, on average, 3% more effective than the rest of the league's. His slider held a strong Stuff+ score of 125 and 118 in 2023 and 2024, respectively, but dipped down to 99 (1% below league average) a season ago. Meanwhile, his four-seam fastball, which he hardly ever threw in Los Angeles but relied on in Chicago, held a Stuff+ score of 120 a season ago.

That's a lot to build off of, and for a player claimed off waivers, who still has an option year remaining and won't be eligible for arbitration until the 2028 season, it's a low-risk move with a potentially significant reward for Matt Arnold and the Brewers' front office to kick-start the offseason.