The Milwaukee Brewers ultimately decided not to give up a trio of prospects for a Freddy Peralta reunion.
Rumors of a reunion have been put to rest as the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Freddy Peralta from the New York Mets.
The Milwaukee Brewers were rumored to be interested in bringing back their former ace, but ultimately it's clear they decided to pass.
This will sting for a bit solely due to them missing out on both Peralta and Tarik Skubal in roughly the span of 12 hours, but there's still plenty of time for Milwaukee to make a big splash.
Brewers' explanation for passing on Peralta revealed
According to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, "The Brewers never showed much interest in bringing back Freddy Peralta. Didn’t view it as a fit."
The Athletic's Will Sammon was the first to break the news that Peralta was heading to Tampa Bay.
With the American League being so weak, this is a huge addition to the AL's top team. Sure, they still need to secure the division and take down the New York Yankees, but the Yankees just sent Camilo Doval to one of the Brewers' rivals in the National League Central, so that tells you everything you need to know about the Yankees' position.
At the time of writing, the Rays are 65-45, which is good for the best record in the American League. Coincidentally, the only other team with 60+ wins in the AL is the Yankees, who are in the same division as Tampa Bay.
Peralta, 30, will join the likes of Drew Rasmussen, Shane McClanahan, and Nick Martinez in what ESPN's Jeff Passan believes to be "one of the American League's best rotations."
Rays had to give up three prospects
The New York Mets had a relatively high asking price for a guy who's a three-month rental and is just 5-9 this season with a 4.99 ERA, but the Rays were happy to oblige.
According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand and Jonathan Mayo, Aidan Smith, Emilien Pitre, and Gary Gill Hill were all included in the deal.
The Mets were able to acquire an outfielder, second baseman, and a pitcher. They got the Rays' Nos. 15, 26, and 27-ranked prospects, so a trio of top 30 players isn't too bad for what New York was getting out of Peralta this season.
Ultimately, that's not an asking price the Brewers were willing to meet, and rightfully so. Peralta is going to command too much money in the offseason, and he deserves every penny, but Milwaukee doesn't have that type of cash to spend, so there was no reason to give up so much just for a reunion to take place, in hopes they can fix Peralta.
