Trade details: Mets acquire RHP Freddy Peralta and RHP Tobias Myers for IF/OF Jett Williams and RHP Brandon Sproat
The Mets needed another starter, someone better than the passel they already had, while the Brewers once again wanted to trade a starter who was a year away from free agency rather than lose him for draft pick compensation (if that even exists in the next CBA). They finally lined up on a trade Wednesday night, with the Brewers sending Freddy Peralta to Queens for prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat, with Tobias Myers also heading to the Mets.
Peralta has been an above-average starter for five years, ever since his fastball ticked up to 93-94. With the ride he gets on the fastball, he can miss a lot of bats with it in the upper half of the strike zone. He changed his pitch mix significantly last year, however, cutting his slider use by more than half and almost totally shelving it against lefties, leaning more on his curve and changeup.
He gets plus extension out front and moved himself more to the third base side of the rubber, getting more deception against right-handed batters, at a small cost of more walks and fewer strikeouts against lefties. He’s made 30 or more starts for three straight seasons, throwing 516 innings in that span and striking out at least 200 batters in each season. He’s not an ace, but he helps the Mets, whose rotation is deep but may not have had a truly above-average starter beyond Nolan McLean, who has yet to pitch a full season in the majors.
Myers seems unnecessary for the Mets, as he’s a fifth starter heading to a team with fifth starters hanging from the rafters. He had a surprising rookie season in 2024, posting a 3.00 ERA in 138 innings despite a modest strikeout rate and 18 homers allowed, but it was very unlikely to last, and between injuries and worse performance he threw just 50 2/3 innings in the majors in 2025. His biggest claim to fame is that in November 2021 he was the player Tampa Bay sent to Cleveland for Junior Caminero, who hit 45 homers for the Rays last year.
Jett Williams can play all over the dirt and in center field. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
The Brewers get two prospects who will appear on my top 100 list on Monday: middle infielder/center fielder Williams and right-handed starter Sproat, both being superfluous to the Mets after the addition of Peralta.
Williams is a natural shortstop who could stay there but is best suited to center field, where he might be a plus defender between his speed and instincts, or second base, where he’d also probably be a plus defender. He’s small but mighty, 5-foot-7 with above-average power that got him to 17 homers last year between Double A and Triple A. He’s also a 70 runner (out of the 20-80 scouting scale) who was successful on 79 percent of steal attempts last year. He raked in Double A, hitting .281/.390/.477, then had some bad luck in Triple A, hitting .209/.285/.433 while still making good swing decisions, with a .223 BABIP that’s going to regress up to the mean.
Williams isn’t major-league ready right now, but he will be at some point this season, most likely. The Brewers have a plus-plus defender at shortstop in Joey Ortiz, who was awful at the plate last year but a roughly 3-win player in 2025, and a borderline star at second in Brice Turang. They have Jackson Chourio to handle center, although they moved him to left later in 2025 after he hurt his hamstring.
They could put Williams in center and Chourio in left, which is probably their best defensive alignment even though on paper it cuts into Chourio’s value. If anyone loses out with the acquisition of Williams, it might be oft-injured outfielder Garrett Mitchell, who has never been able to establish himself as a regular between lack of production and lack of availability.
Sproat probably goes right into Milwaukee’s rotation, taking one of the two spots vacated by this trade, with Logan Henderson the favorite (or at least my favorite) for the other spot. Sproat throws very hard, with a sinker at 95-96 and a four-seamer that’s hit 99. He has a five-pitch mix now that the Mets gave him a sweeper and a harder slider that’s almost a cutter.
He rose through Double A by overpowering hitters, without real command or the need to work too much with his secondary stuff. That has changed in Triple A and the majors, as he can live too much in the heart of the zone with several of his pitches, and left-handed batters have hit him fairly hard at both of those levels.
He has the ceiling of a No. 2 starter, but it’s more likely he settles in as a good No. 4 starter who doesn’t throw a ton of innings because he’s not very efficient within games.
The obvious comparison here is to the Corbin Burnes trade before the 2024 season. In both cases, the Brewers traded a starter with one year remaining until free agency for two prospects, one a middle infielder and one a starter with a huge arm and command questions. Burnes was better than Peralta at the time of the trade, but I actually prefer this return for Milwaukee, as I’d take Williams over Ortiz and Sproat over D.L. Hall, based on where I’d ranked them on the times of their trades (rather than just relying on memory).
I’m sure it’s disappointing for Brewers fans to see yet another of their best pitchers leave via trade after another playoff appearance, but Milwaukee did well here and both of these players should be regulars on their Opening Day 2027 roster.
