The Mets paid a significant prospect price to acquire the ace Freddy Peralta from Milwaukee in January. The $8MM salary was a large part of his trade value. The Mets certainly have some interest in keeping the incoming free agent in Queens for potentially much higher prices than this year.
Although Peralta has expressed openness to extension talks, he is looking at the type of contract the Mets have largely avoided under president of baseball operations David Stearns. Peralta told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic earlier this week that he wants a long-term deal. He was more specific on Friday, telling Jon Heyman of the New York Post that he wanted “seven or eight years.”
It would be surprising if the Mets reach that height, at least before Peralta hits the open market. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker (available to Front Office subscribers), the Mets have not signed a pitcher for more than three years since Stearns was hired in 2023.
Last winter of three years, $75MM faced it Sean Manaea the end of their two-season contract. They reportedly made a 12-year commitment Yoshinobu Yamamotobut he was an ace from Japan at the age of 25. It was a similar setup on the position player side. They were willing to do whatever it took to sign Juan Sotobut they pursued short-term deals at large annual rates for their free agent targets.
Stearns has traded Peralta twice and signed him to extend his early career while running baseball operations in Milwaukee. He understandably likes the player and clearly appreciates what he brings to the clubhouse.
That said, Peralta would be a better free agent than an almost unique offense like Soto or Yamamoto. He turns 30 in June, so the first year of an extension or free agent deal will be his age 31 season. He is a very good pitcher but a clear note below the likes of Tarik Skubal again Paul Skenes as the best arms in MLB.
Cy Young’s fifth-place finish last season was Peralta’s first career appearance in the polls. He is coming off a career-low 2.70 earned run average in 176 2/3 innings. He ranked 11th among starters (minimum 120 innings) with a 28.2% strikeout rate. Peralta hasn’t missed a start in three seasons and ranks 15th in innings pitched during that span.
There is a recent precedent for a seven-year agreement with that profile. Aaron Nola he earned seven years and $175MM from the Phillies at the same time in 2023. Nola was very solid but didn’t throw as hard as Peralta and had started to fight for the home run.
Dylan Cease drew seven years and $210MM (though retroactively brings the actual value closer to $185MM) from the Blue Jays last season. He throws more and misses fewer at-bats than Peralta, but his first effective start has been lacking. Fried Max he is the only pitcher in his 30s to sign eight years in the past decade. He made $218MM from the Yankees as a lefty with combined assets who had not allowed an ERA higher than 3.25 in any of the five seasons prior to free agency.
Peralta fits that group in terms of talent. The difference between his current situation and the aforementioned trio is that he still has a year left on the open market. Travel year extensions for Luis Castillo again José Berríos it hit south of $150MM. Peralta probably isn’t looking at annual value in the low $20MM range just to extend the length of the contract.
Rosenthal reported Monday that the parties had not yet agreed to an extension. They will likely have those discussions in the three weeks leading up to the start of the regular season. Whether a long-term deal is in place or not, Peralta will make his team’s first appearance on Opening Day. Captain Carlos Mendoza made that surprising announcement last week. They will welcome the Pirates (who will turn the ball over to Skenes) in the game of putting together the tent.
