The Mets paid a pretty hefty prospect price to acquire their ace. Freddie Peralta January in Milwaukee. His bargain-basement salary of $8 million was a big part of his trade value. The Mets certainly have some interest in retaining the impending free agent in Queens at a much higher price after this year.
Peralta has expressed openness to extension talks, but he is targeting the kind of contract the Mets largely avoided under David Stearns as president of baseball operations. Peralta told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic earlier this week that he is looking for a long-term deal. He was more specific on Friday, telling the New York Post’s Jon Heyman that he wanted “seven or eight years.”
I’d be surprised if the Mets get that far, at least before Peralta hits the open market. The Mets haven’t signed a pitcher in more than three years since Stearns was hired in 2023, according to MLBTR’s Contract Tracker (available to Front Office subscribers).
Last winter, he signed a three-year, $75 million contract. Sean Manea It is his only pitching contract for more than two seasons. It has been reported that a 12-year contract was proposed. Yoshinobu YamamotoHowever, he was an ace who came from Japan at the age of 25. It was a similar setup in terms of position players. They were willing to do whatever it took to get it signed. Juan SotoBut they pursued short-term deals at exorbitant annual rates with free-agent targets.
Stearns was traded twice for Peralta and signed a cheap early-career extension when he was running baseball operations in Milwaukee. He obviously loves the player and appreciates what he brings to the clubhouse.
That means Peralta would be a more typical high-end free agent than almost unique cases like Soto or Yamamoto. He turns 30 in June, so the first year of his extension or free agent contract will be his age-31 season. He’s a great pitcher, but he’s definitely a step below other pitchers. Tarik Skubal and Paul Skennes With the best weapon in MLB.
Last season’s fifth-place finish for the Cy Young Award was the first time he appeared on the ballot in Peralta’s career. He has a career-low 2.70 earned run average in 176 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate is 28.2%, which ranks 11th among starting pitchers (minimum 120 innings). Peralta hasn’t made a start in three seasons and ranks 15th in innings pitched during that span.
There is recent precedent for a contract of more than seven years being signed with that profile. Aaron Nola At the same age in 2023, he commanded a 7-year, $175 million contract from the Phillies. Nola was very durable, but he didn’t throw as hard as Peralta and he started having trouble hitting home runs.
stop dylan Last offseason, the Blue Jays pulled out a seven-year, $210 million contract (although the deferral brought his actual value closer to $185 million). Jeong Jeong threw a little harder than Peralta and missed a few more at-bats, but his starting efficiency was lacking. max pride He is the only pitcher in his 30s who has signed a contract for eight of the last ten years. He received $218 million from the Yankees as a left-handed pitcher who had never allowed an ERA above 3.25 in five seasons prior to free agency.
Peralta belongs to that group in terms of talent. The difference between the trio mentioned earlier and the current situation is that there is still a year left in the open market. Extend your walking year Luis Castillo and Jose Berrios Landed south of $150MM. Perhaps Peralta isn’t looking for an annual value in the low $20M range just to extend his contract.
Rosenthal reported Monday that the two sides have not yet seriously discussed an extension. They’ll have that conversation in the three weeks leading up to the start of the regular season. Regardless of whether he signs a long-term contract, Peralta is expected to make his team debut on Opening Day. Captain Carlos Mendoza made a surprising announcement last week. They’ll host the Pirates (credit will definitely go to Skenes) in a big pitching matchup.
