The Mets have finally found their ace.
On Wednesday night, New York landed Freddy Peralta in a four-player trade with the Brewers to continue a three-day stretch in which the franchise remade its roster. Peralta immediately projects as the Mets’ Opening Day starter, and joins a rotation that suddenly looks strong with Nolan McLean, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Sean Manaea and others behind him.
Peralta didn’t come cheap, though, as the Mets had to part with two of their top five prospects to acquire him. With that in mind, let’s take a deep dive into this deal and find out which team’s haul graded out better.
Mets, Brewers grades in Freddy Peralta trade
Mets receive: RHP Freddy Peralta, RHP Tobias Myers
Brewers receive: SS Jett Williams, RHP Brandon Sproat
Mets grade: B+
The Mets have been quiet for most of the offseason and missed out on the biggest names available while losing Pete Alonso to the Orioles. It had been a disappointing few months since New York missed the playoffs on the final day of the 2025 season. That has all changed over the last week, though, as the Mets have begun swinging for the fences. After adding Bo Bichette last week and Luis Robert on Wednesday night, they struck gold by acquiring Peralta. As a bonus, he’s only making $8 million next season, not that owner Steve Cohen has ever cared about his team saving money.
The 29-year-old righty was the second-biggest name on the pitching market this offseason behind Tarik Skubal, who may or may not be moved. Like Skubal, he will be a free agent after the 2026 season, and the Brewers wanted to get something in return before he inevitably bolts next winter. Peralta is coming off his best big league season, as he went 17–6 with a 2.70 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 204 strikeouts against 66 walks in 176 2/3 innings over 33 starts. He made the All-Star team for the second time and finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting.
Peralta’s arsenal features four pitches, with a changeup, curveball and slider playing off his 95-mph fastball. Opposing hitters had an xBA of .237 and an xSLG of .460 against the four-seamer, but his other offerings fared much better. Hitters only managed an xBA of .173 off his changeup with an xSLG of .304. The curve was even better, producing a .160 xBA and .210 xSLG. He uses his slider almost exclusively against righties and garnered a ridiculous 53.4 whiff rate on it, while allowing an xBA of .141 and an xSLG of .208.
While the 2025 season was great for Peralta, he’s been excellent for years. He has boasted an ERA below 4.00 in six consecutive seasons, and has topped 200 strikeouts in each of the past three. He’s not a one-hit wonder, but instead a proven front-end guy.
Myers is a 27-year-old righty swing man who made six starts in 22 appearances during the 2025 season. He went 1–2 with a 3.55 ERA and 1.36 WHIP over 50 2/3 innings. He’s a solid throw-in arm, but he’s not going to challenge for high-leverage innings.
This deal is all about Peralta. The Mets badly needed an ace and got one. They gave up two good players to get him, but they’re well worth the expenditure for a pitcher of this caliber. The only drawback here is that Peralta is a rental. Unless the Mets severely overpay on an extension, he’ll be headed to free agency after 2026 as the second-best pitcher on the market behind Skubal.
Brewers grade: B
We all knew the Brewers were going to trade Peralta, the only question was how much they’d get back for him. They did pretty well, but the return still feels like it’s lacking something.
Peralta was the best pitcher who was definitely getting traded this offseason. Yes, he was a rental, but only landing two prospects for a Cy Young contender on a cheap contract is a bit surprising
Jett Williams is the headliner here. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the No. 30 prospect in baseball. The Mets selected him with the No. 14 pick in the 2022 MLB draft. A prep player out of Texas, the 5' 6" Williams was the shortest player ever taken in the first round. Despite his now-5' 7" frame, he has moved quickly up to Triple A. Williams has positional flexibility as a shortstop, second baseman and outfielder, and owns surprising power despite his diminutive stature.
In 2025, Williams slashed .261/.363/.465, with 17 home runs, 52 RBIs, 34 doubles and 34 stolen bases in 130 games across Double A and Triple A. He also struck out 131 times against 76 walks. The 22-year-old is a speedy runner with an average arm that could move him off short eventually. A solid fielder, it’s clear Williams will go as far as his bat carries him.
Sproat ranks as the fifth-best prospect in the Mets’ system. A second-rounder in 2023, the Florida product is a 6' 3" righty with a fastball that sits in the mid to high-90s, which he threw as a sinker a lot in 2025. He has a good changeup in the upper-80s and a nice sweeper that he can throw harder as a slider at times.
At Triple A during most of the 2025 campaign, Sproat had an up-and-down season. He went 8–6 with a 4.24 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 113 strikeouts against 53 walks in 121 innings. He made his big league debut for the Mets and got four starts in. He went 0–2 with a 4.79 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 17 strikeouts against seven walks in 20 2/3 innings. Big league batters hit .243 against him and crucially, slugged .519 off his fastball.
Sproat is 25, so he isn’t a young up-and-comer anymore and will need to produce for the Brewers in 2026.
The Brewers got a solid return for Peralta, but they weren’t able to create the kind of bidding war that could have landed them a substantial haul.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Freddy Peralta Trade Grades: Mets Find Their Ace in Four-Player Deal.
