Brewers rumors: MLB insider quietly drops major Freddy Peralta trade bombshell

Just hours after the Milwaukee Brewers' memorable 2025 season came to a close, rumors of their ace, Freddy Peralta, being traded in the offseason started to surface. However, the rumors at the time held very little weight, with the Brewers only reportedly expected to "field offers" for Peralta, according to Andy McCullough of The Athletic. Front offices are constantly "fielding offers" for practically all of their players; to not do so is to adopt an ignorant approach to roster construction that doesn't accurately analyze the true value of all of the players on a team.

Therefore, despite fans of big-market teams being almost certain that Milwaukee will trade Peralta to their squad, the language coming out of the Brewers' camp was far more uncertain, with newly minted President of Baseball Operations Matt Arnold claiming that trading his ace wasn't "on the front of his mind" when he delivered his post-season press conference a few weeks ago.

As a result, Brewers fans were left wondering what was on Arnold's mind, but that question was quickly answered when the front office extended the qualifying offer to Brandon Woodruff last Thursday. Preoccupied by having to make decisions on contract options and whether or not to extend a sizable offer to Woody, Arnold wasn't lying when he said that he and his team weren't currently focused on finding a trade partner for the team's ace.

However, fans still yearned for at least a direction that Arnold and company are leaning when it comes to dealing Peralta this offseason. With such a consequential decision on the horizon, any piece of information that suggests the front office is leaning one way or another becomes coveted intel for Brewers fans who have become experts at navigating offseason trade rumors in recent years.

On Monday morning, Brewers fans received just that: a surprising report that the team is planning on keeping Peralta for the 2026 season.

MLB insider Bob Nightengale reports the Brewers are expected to keep Freddy Peralta for the 2026 season

On Monday morning, ahead of the start of the GM Meetings in Las Vegas, which last until Thursday and generally result in fans gaining a better understanding of their team's offseason approach, MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today dropped a story detailing MLB's 10 biggest hot stove questions. Nightengale's article, which is free to read over at usatoday.com, included insight from several GMs around the league and covered topics ranging from the effect of a potential lockout in 2027 to which players are actually on the trade block this winter.

When it came to Freddy Peralta, Nightengale wrote, "Despite the rumors and speculation, the Brewers are planning to keep him, knowing that at $8 million he’s an absolute steal." It's not the strongest language, and Nightengale didn't report where he specifically obtained this exact piece of information, but it does serve as some of the most concrete evidence in favor of the Brewers retaining their ace for the 2026 season.

Here's the catch: whether or not the Brewers are actually planning on moving Peralta this offseason, it would be wise on their part to communicate to other teams that they are planning on keeping him. Such a tactic could result in them receiving a larger return for Peralta if they do end up moving him, with other teams feeling as if they have to change Arnold's mind with a trade package that he can't turn down. Additionally, if the Brewers were to claim that they are very interested in moving Peralta this offseason and then fail to find a trade partner before 2026 rolls around, it could sour the relationship between the team and their ace.

Regardless, hearing that the Brewers are planning on keeping Peralta around for the final season of his contract, whether or not it ends up being true, is good news for Brewers fans. It suggests that the front office won't send Peralta away for just any old trade package, and if a respectable trade offer never surfaces, that the team has no problem bringing back their ace for their defense of their NL Central crown in 2026.