ORLANDO, Fla. — A week ago, the Milwaukee Brewers viewed the interest in right-hander Freddy Peralta as significant enough for them to consider “cracking the door open” for trade discussions.
The Brewers left the door ajar at the winter meetings, and naturally, teams came barging through.
The Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros are among the teams in on Peralta, according to people familiar with the Brewers’ discussions.
Other clubs, such as the New York Mets, are also believed to be interested, though it’s unclear how willing some of those teams would be to meet the Brewers’ asking price.
One Brewers official said “lots of teams” are calling, terming it “a good week.”
No deal appears close. Talks are fluid, and the teams interested in Peralta are also exploring free agents and trades for other starting pitchers. The Orioles, for example, have been among the teams pursuing Miami Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera.
Peralta, who turns 30 in June, will earn $8 million next season before becoming eligible for free agency. Under similar circumstances two offseasons ago, the Brewers traded righty Corbin Burnes to the Orioles.
Burnes was set to make $15.6 million, nearly twice as much as Peralta. His salary alone motivated the low-revenue Brewers to act, and they turned Burnes into shortstop Joey Ortiz, lefty DL Hall and the 34th pick in the draft, which they used on first baseman Blake Burke.
Peralta is not as accomplished as Burnes was. However, his relatively low salary might make him an even more valuable trade commodity, particularly as many clubs seem lukewarm on the leading free-agent options.
Both Brewers owner Mark Attanasio and general manager Matt Arnold said they were excited about their rotation last month after righty Brandon Woodruff accepted the team’s $22.025 million qualifying offer. But the Brewers believe that if they trade Peralta, the veteran presence of Woodruff and their numerous other rotation options still could leave them in position to contend in the NL Central.
The Brewers won 97 games last season and eliminated the Chicago Cubs in the Division Series before getting swept by the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Peralta finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting after a regular season in which he produced a 2.70 ERA in 176 2/3 innings and the game’s eighth-highest strikeout rate.
Without Peralta, the Brewers’ rotation would be led by Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski and Quinn Priester. Their other candidates would include Robert Gasser, Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson and Tobias Myers; two relievers who could start, Hall and Aaron Ashby; and possibly a pitcher they would acquire in the Peralta trade.
