Building a Yankees trade package for SP Freddy Peralta

The Milwaukee Brewers are making their right-handed ace Freddy Peralta available in trade talks, and Chris Kirschner at The Athletic believes the Yankees can and should pull the trigger.

He’s not wrong, pointing out the Yankees are banking a lot on several factors, namely Gerrit Cole being back in top form post-Tommy John surgery. Adding someone like Peralta balances the rotation so the team doesn’t bank so much on young guys like Will Warren and Cam Schlittler being fully reliable, or Luis Gil suddenly commanding the strike zone.

Let’s look at the raw numbers. Peralta was 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA in 2025, both career highs along with his 176.2 innings pitched. Peralta wasn’t overachieving either, posting a 3.47 xERA and 3.64 FIP. He’s a strikeout pitcher and fastball dominant, with velocity sometimes touching 95 mph.

The stuff plays too. Peralta’s Stuff+ for 2025 was an above-average 107, a tick above his career mark of 106.

Not bad, considering Freddy Peralta throws a fairly basic pitch mix: Fastball, changeup, curveball, slider, in order of usage. How does he do it? Two words:

Soft contact.

Freddy Peralta doesn’t give up a ton of groundballs, not entirely out of the ordinary for strikeout pitchers who lean on their fastball. His groundball rate (GB%) was 37.3%, which puts him in MLB’s 25th percentile.

However, despite being a fly ball pitcher, Peralta manages to keep contact light and the ball in the ballpark. His soft contact rate was 19%, seventh among qualified pitchers. Opposing hitters’ expected batting average against him was a paltry .206, putting him in the 85th percentile. His hard-hit percentage (Hard%), sixth in MLB at 28.4%, was in the 90th.

Add it all up along with great command of all four pitches, and Peralta posted an incredible pitching run value (PRV) of +26.

So given that, what would it cost the Yankees to bring Freddy Peralta to the Bronx? The Brewers will want some arms, probably one of Gil or Warren. That likely depends on if they want Gil in the rotation or a more fitting bullpen role. The Brewers will also ask for some of the Yankees’ top pitching prospects, with Kirschner citing the fast-rising Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and fireballer Carlos Lagrange. Righty Chase Hampton, recovering from Tommy John surgery, was also racking up strikeouts before getting injured.

Now, let’s take a look at Milwaukee’s lineup. The Brewers need a banger of a bat, and badly. The team ranked 22nd in home runs last season and need a reliable home run hitter in the outfield alongside Jackson Chourio.

Sounds like a prime opportunity for current Yankees prospect Spencer Jones, doesn’t it? The 6’7″ center fielder is 24 and turned in a career season in 2025, slugging 35 home runs with 80 RBI across two levels. Jones also batted a career high .274, though this could just be a blip on the radar. Prior to last season, Jones’ career high in home runs was 17.

What’s more, he still struggled with strikeouts as he always has. Granted, that just comes with being a big power hitter, just ask Aaron Judge. But in Jones’ case, he’s either a Judge/Riley Greene-type, or he’s another Joey Gallo. No in-between. Wherever he plays, he’s definitely doing two things: hitting home runs and striking out.

Meanwhile, the Yankees continue their free agency staring contest with Cody Bellinger. Trade talks involving switch-hitting former top prospect Jasson Dominguez have also been fairly quiet.

This means that a potential trade for Freddy Peralta, who earns $8 million on an expiring contract in 2026, likely costs the Yankees the following: One of Gil or Warren, one or both of Lagrange or Rodriguez- Cruz, and almost certainly Spencer Jones. Maybe Milwaukee could also ask for someone like Ben Hess or another outfield prospect, Dillon Lewis.

Pitchers and catchers don’t report for another month, but the Yankees need to address their pitching sooner rather than later. Cole could still start the season on the injured list and lefty Carlos Rodon, currently recovering from bone spur surgery, is out until May.

Trade talks haven’t started yet, but Brian Cashman can’t wait for Bellinger forever. The time to pull the trigger on this trade is now.