Mets acquire ace pitcher Freddy Peralta from Brewers in trade

NEW YORK (AP) — The active New York Mets acquired ace pitcher Freddy Peralta and right-hander Tobias Myers from Milwaukee on Wednesday night in a trade that sent two top prospects to the Brewers.

Milwaukee received pitcher Brandon Sproat and minor league infielder/outfielder Jett Williams.

Peralta gives the Mets a frontline starter after their rotation faltered in the second half of a disappointing 2025 season. The move came hours after the Mets formally introduced free agent addition Bo Bichette at Citi Field, and one night after they obtained talented center fielder Luis Robert Jr. in a trade with the Chicago White Sox.

Peralta went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA in 33 starts last season, when he led the National League in wins and finished fifth in Cy Young Award voting. He earned his second All-Star selection after getting his first nod in 2021.

The 29-year-old Peralta hasn’t been on the injured list since 2022, when the right-hander was sidelined by a strained lat and later elbow inflammation. He’s set to make $8 million this season and can become a free agent following the World Series. He is the latest former Brewers player acquired by Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who ran Milwaukee’s front office from 2015-23.

Myers, 27, was 9-6 with a 3.00 ERA as a rookie in 2024 before going 1-2 with a 3.55 ERA in 22 appearances last year as Milwaukee won its third consecutive division title and advanced to the NL Championship Series.

Peralta’s departure marks the third straight offseason in which the cost-conscious Brewers have traded a star pitcher entering the final year of his contract.

Two years ago, they dealt 2021 NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to Baltimore for infielder Joey Ortiz and left-hander DL Hall. Ortiz was Milwaukee’s starting third baseman in 2024 and moved over to shortstop last year, while Hall has gone 2-2 with a 4.30 ERA in 33 appearances over the past two seasons.

Last winter, the Brewers sent two-time All-Star reliever Devin Williams to the New York Yankees for left-hander Nestor Cortes and third baseman Caleb Durbin, who finished third in NL Rookie of the Year balloting during his debut season in Milwaukee.

“These decisions are always tough,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. “We loved having Freddy Peralta here and everything he meant to this franchise. I just had an emotional call with him. He means a lot to us and he’s always going to be part of our Brewers family. Same thing goes for Tobias Myers.”

Burnes and Williams both spent just one season with the teams that acquired them from Milwaukee before signing elsewhere in free agency. Burnes agreed to a $210 million, six-year contract with Arizona before the 2025 season, and Williams signed a $51 million, three-year deal with the Mets last month.

Although the Brewers won’t have Peralta to lead their rotation, they do bring back two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff, who accepted the team’s $22,025,000 qualifying offer to stay in Milwaukee. Woodruff went 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA last year after returning from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for all of 2024.

The Brewers also should get a full season from flamethrowing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski as they chase a fourth straight NL Central crown. Misiorowski got called up last June and went 5-3 with a 4.36 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 66 innings, earning an All-Star Game selection as a rookie.

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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee and AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

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