How trading Freddy Peralta impacts the Brewers' payroll situation

After a long offseason of rumors, speculation, and waiting, the Milwaukee Brewers finally fulfilled the prophecy. Like Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams before him, Freddy Peralta is being shipped out of town with just one year remaining on his contract.

Now, the Crew did exceedingly well in this trade, picking up two top prospects that should help them replace Peralta on the mound (Brandon Sproat) and fill a variety of roles up the middle (Jett Williams). Even when factoring in Tobias Meyers, Milwaukee is gaining a lot of affordable control with high upside, which might as well be a printed slogan above the front office's doors at this point.

In fact, Milwaukee's return has been so lauded that some, including ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, now consider their farm system the best in the sport. That'll change with quick graduations from Sproat and Williams, but it's a testament to the well-oiled machine that is the Brewers franchise that they could lead the MLB in wins one year and enter the following season with the top-ranked farm in the game.

But, I hear you asking through your screen, what about the precious payroll? Wasn't the whole point of this trade to save Mark Attanasio a few bucks?

No. It wasn't. Squash that thought before it gains any momentum. But, that doesn't mean more flexibility in the payroll isn't a positive side effect of the trade.

Brewers reduce payroll to 2025 levels with Freddy Peralta trade, creating room in budget for more moves

Thankfully, the mechanics of this deal are simple to understand from a financial perspective.

The Brewers are outright shedding $8 million via Peralta's outgoing contract. Williams, who is not yet on the 40-man roster, is on a minor-league contract that won't affect the team's luxury tax calculations or their actual spending in any tangible way until he's promoted to the big leagues. And Meyers and Sproat, who are both pre-arbitration players, effectively cancel each other's salaries out.

Add it all up, and Milwaukee is now down to a projected Opening Day payroll of $126 million, according to FanGraphs' roster resource, which is right in line with their end-of-year number from 2025 ($123 million). With a TV deal in limbo and thus a significant portion of yearly revenue now uncertain, it's possible (if not likely) that the team will simply pocket the savings and move forward as currently constructed.

However, this is still one of the best teams in baseball. Even if ownership only green lights spending up to the $8 million they saved in the Peralta trade, there's a lot of wiggle room for the Brewers to improve on the margins. Perhaps that takes the form of a veteran starter (a reunion with José Quintana or Jordan Montgomery could make sense), a right-handed bullpen arm, or perhaps an upgrade to one of their more uncertain spots in the order, with outfield and potentially third base being the leading candidates there.

No matter what form their next move takes, let's simply hope there is a next move. With Peralta out of the picture, the Brewers have extended their window of contention, though simultaneously they have lowered their ceiling in 2026. Regression is fair to expect, but just a little more investment would go a long way to propping up a great roster that just lost one of their best players.