Brewers GM all but confirms Freddy Peralta's trade deadline fate

Freddy Peralta toughed out a win in the Milwaukee Brewers' Saturday night victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, bringing his season win total up to 12, which leads all of MLB entering play on Sunday. It wasn't the prettiest of wins for Peralta in the Brewers' ninth-straight victory — he allowed four earned runs in five innings, with just four strikeouts — but it signifies what Peralta brings to this Brewers team: the heart and fight that he shows resonates throughout the Brewers' clubhouse.

Given the integral role that Peralta plays not only on the field, where he holds a 2.85 ERA while pitching atop the Brewers’ talented starting rotation, but also in the clubhouse, it was even more disheartening to see his name brought up as a potential trade candidate earlier in the year. The rumors started with a speculative piece from ESPN's Buster Olney back in mid-May, who cited the thin starting pitching market as a reason for the Brewers to assume an "opportunistic seller" position at the trade deadline.

The article held some merit at the time. After all, the Brewers were 21-25 when Olney published his article. Even still, it was hard to imagine a world in which the Brewers would part with Peralta, so long as the Crew had any chance to make the postseason.

Fast forward to today, and Peralta has earned his second career All-Star nod, the Brewers have the second-best record in the National League, and the team is squarely in the playoff picture, with their ace playing a huge part in their success. It now seems practically unfathomable for the Brewers to even field calls for a potential Peralta trade, and luckily for Brewers fans, Matt Arnold, the Brewers general manager, practically confirmed that Freddy is staying put in Milwaukee at least through the end of the season.

Brewers GM tells team insider that a Freddy Peralta trade is very unlikely

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently talked with Arnold and asked him about the team's trade deadline plans with Peralta. Per usual, Arnold didn't completely rule out a Peralta trade, but his language, as documented by Hogg, suggested that a Peralta trade is practically off the table. According to Hogg, on Peralta Arnold said, “Obviously it’s important for us to never close the door, but Freddy means the world to our franchise and all of us. I would expect him to be a big part of this going down the stretch."

Despite Arnold caveating his answer by saying that the door is never closed, and not quite giving a definitive answer to Hogg on whether or not Peralta will be traded, his language is about as close as the Brewers' front office gets to saying that a player won't be traded.

That same confidence cannot be applied to the rest of the Brewers’ rotation (except maybe Misiorowski and Woodruff). Nestor Cortes, José Quintana, and even some of the Brewers’ younger starters, most of whom are currently pitching in Triple-A, could be on the trade block prior to the end of the month. Then the question becomes, what will Matt Arnold and company try to get in return for shipping off some of their starting pitching depth?