Revisiting Brewers' offseason Freddy Peralta trade ahead of first 2026 matchup with Mets

The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets will meet for the first time since their offseason blockbuster tonight, as the two teams kick off a three-game set at American Family Field. Freddy Peralta, the headliner of said blockbuster, will start for the Mets in the series opener, marking the first time the former Milwaukee ace will pitch against the Brewers in his nine-year MLB career.

The Brewers had planned on throwing Brandon Sproat, whom Peralta was traded for back in January, in tonight's opener, but yesterday they announced that 2x All-Star and NL Cy Young frontrunner Jacob Misiorowski will instead oppose Peralta in what will be a matchup of Milwaukee's former and current aces.

Though Brewers fans were robbed of the many narratives that would have arisen if Sproat and Peralta faced off, the Mets trip to American Family Field still serves as an excellent opportunity to revisit Matt Arnold and David Stearns' offseason swap.

The Freddy Peralta blockbuster currently looks underwhelming for both sides, but long-term outlook favors the Brewers

Up to this point, the Brewers and Mets' offseason blockbuster looks rather underwhelming for both teams. Peralta, who was New York's Opening Day starter, has posted a 4.66 ERA in 20 starts this year, which is his worst season-long ERA since his inconsistent 2019 campaign when he was splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. Peralta has been worth just 0.2 bWAR this season, while posting a career-low 22.3% strikeout rate and a 9.4% walk rate that is his highest since 2021.

With the Mets falling out of contention, Peralta, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, was the subject of early trade speculation, which has only increased as the August 3 deadline draws nearer. In fact, there's a rumor going around that the Brewers may be interested in reuniting with Peralta ahead of the 2026 trade deadline, though such a move feels highly unlikely from the Milwaukee's front office. All that to say, Peralta's first season in New York hasn't gone as the Mets hoped it would.

The Brewers also sent right-hander Tobias Myers to New York in the trade, but the 2024 breakout starter has also put together a disappointing season for the Mets. Myers, who has been shuttled back-and-forth between Triple-A and MLB this year, has covered 46 innings for the big-league club and produced a 6.26 ERA.

However, Milwaukee's return from the offseason trade hasn't produced head-turning results to this point either. Sproat has bounced back after a rough start to the 2026 season, but still holds a season-long 5.16 ERA in 82 innings, with a concerning 11.1% walk rate. Meanwhile, Jett Williams, the other top prospect Milwaukee received in the Peralta trade, is having an inconsistent season in Triple-A. Williams is slashing .234/.341/.385 with nine homers and nine doubles in 80 games with the Nashville Sounds this year. He was reportedly nearing his MLB debut just before the All-Star Break, but a minor wrist injury prevented his call-up from happening.

While neither side has seen impressive production from their return to this point in the season, the Brewers still have five years of team control remaining with Sproat following the 2026 campaign, and will presumably have Williams for the next six years. That gives both players plenty of time to reach their full potential in Milwaukee and make the Peralta blockbuster eventually appear rather lopsided in Milwaukee's favor.

Overall, for this trade to look good for David Stearns and company, the Mets needed Peralta to be the Cy Young candidate he was in 2025 and lead them to a postseason run this year. Neither has occurred, and while the Milwaukee's return has been inconsistent up to this point, it's clear to see that the long-term outlook of this trade heavily favors the Brewers.

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