Orioles eying Brewers ace Freddy Peralta.
The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the most aggressive teams during this year's offseason period. Mike Elias, President of Baseball Operations, and team Owner David Rubenstein have expressed their desire to invest money on top talent, and so far this offseason they have backed that up by signing first baseman Pete Alonso to a five-year, $155 million dollar contract.
Elias has also vocalized his interest in improving the starting rotation via trade or free agency. After trading away prospects Slater De Brun, Caden Bodine, Michael Forret, Austin Overn and a compensatory pick for Shane Baz, Elias is still aiming for more.
One name that Baltimore has been linked to throughout the offseason is Milwaukee Brewers ace, Freddy Peralta.
Peralta (29) is coming off of a career year where he posted a 2.70 ERA in 176.2 innings pitched. He had the fourth most wins in the MLB last season with 17, was ninth in strikeouts with 204, and his 5.5 WAR was seventh highest amongst qualified starting pitchers.
Peralta signed a five-year, $15.5 million dollar contract extension with Milwaukee in 2020, including club options for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Milwaukee's decision to extend Peralta early has proven to be one of the best contracts in the MLB due to how good the pitcher has been under contract. Peralta is under contract for the 2026 season and is then eligible to hit the open market.
The two-time All-Star is a legit top of the rotation arm that would put numerous teams into World Series contention, including Baltimore, but is the price right?
Two years ago, Milwaukee shipped former Cy Young award winner Corbin Burnes to Baltimore for prospects DL Hall (No. 7) and Joey Ortiz (No. 8) -- a trade that in hindsight benefited Baltimore more.
Acquiring Peralta from Milwaukee would be a similar situation to when Baltimore traded for Burnes, as both pitchers enter the final year of their contract upon arrival to Baltimore. Elias traded Baltimore's seventh and eighth ranked prospects to acquire Burnes in 2023.
Could a similar trade package get a deal done? My answer is yes.
Elias has shown that he isn't scared to trade away top prospects in Baltimore's farm system, given he dealt three top 11 prospects to acquire Shane Baz last week who is under team control till after the 2028 season.
Trading for Peralta would certainly cost Baltimore some top prospects and players, but luckily for Baltimore, they have a surplus of that.
After the additions of Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward, Baltimore could look to trade some of their depth pieces at first base and outfield. Some names that come to mind are former top prospects Coby Mayo and Colton Cowser.
Cowser is coming off of a down year where he saw his OPS dip 113 points and his batting average slide 46 points. However, Cowser's power from the left side of the plate is definitely enticing for a Milwaukee team who recently traded away outfielder Isaac Collins. Cowser would be a fun longterm building block for Milwaukee as he's set to hit free agency after the 2029 season, giving him four years of team control.
Mayo, on the other hand, had an up and down start to his big league career as he was sent down to Triple-A multiple times in early 2025 due to poor play and lack of opportunity. However, Mayo seemed to adjust to big league competition in the month of September where he had a slash line of .301/.393/.548 with five home runs. The 24 year old first baseman has all the hitting upside in the world, but with the addition of Pete Alonso, Mayo's playing time would be scarce.
I believe a trade headlined by Coby Mayo would gain the interest of Milwaukee, as first baseman Rhys Hoskins is an unrestricted free agent.
If Baltimore wanted to trade for Peralta, they certainly have the ammo to get a deal done, but the next step would be to extend the two-time All-Star and keep him in Baltimore for the foreseeable future -- something that Elias has yet to do with a pitcher during his Orioles tenure.