The Mets and the right-hander Freddy Peralta they have yet to have serious extension talks, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The report suggests that talks may escalate at some point but the two sides will have different priorities. President of baseball operations David Stearns has shown a preference for short-term deals with pitchers but Peralta tells Rosenthal he would like to sign a long-term deal.
Almost as soon as the Mets acquired Peralta in January, speculation began about which club might sign him. Stearns has already traded and extended Peralta once, when he was with the Brewers. Peralta now has just one season remaining, as he is set for free agency after the 2026 campaign.
Despite the concept, it was reported immediately after the trade that the Mets would not pursue anything. They plan to let Peralta relax with his new team for a while. That said, it’s not really surprising that the Mets aren’t pushing hard. Some players prefer not to negotiate contracts during the season, though it’s unclear if Peralta has such preferences.
Whenever the negotiations get serious, it’s worth noting that Peralta and the Mets are likely to start with different targets. “I would prefer to go longer and make sure I’m going to be in a place where I want to finish my job,” Peralta told Rosenthal.
That’s contrary to Stearns’ usual approach as a baseball operations leader. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, he has avoided long-term deals for pitchers, both during his time with the Brewers and now with the Mets. He gave five-year extensions to Peralta once Aaron Ashby during his time in Milwaukee, but those deals were for mid-20s hitters. Outside of those two early career extensions, he has never signed a pitcher to a contract longer than three years. Although he is now working with one of the highest paying companies in the league, Sean ManaeaThe $75MM deal is the largest guarantee Stearns has given a pitcher. Rosenthal points out that the Mets have offered a 12-year deal Yoshinobu Yamamotobut that was a special story as he was only 25 at the time.
Peralta will turn 30 in June and will therefore enter his age-31 season as a free agent. Getting a long contract at that age should be possible for Peralta if he has another strong season. Last season, Fried Max received an eight-year contract into his 31-year-old campaign. The previous winter, Aaron Nola he got seven years before his age 31 season. Dylan Cease he’s going into his 30s, so he’s a year younger than Peralta that way, but his birthday is in December. Peralta’s birthday is in June, so it will really be about a six month difference.
According to guarantees, Othosiwe got $218MM, Cease got $210MM and Nola got $172MM. Cease’s deal has had significant setbacks, putting the current price in the $180-185MM range. Peralta has an argument to get into that range next winter, especially when compared to Cease.
Over the past five seasons, Peralta has thrown 738 1/3 innings with a 3.30 earned run average, a 29.6% strikeout rate and a 9% walk rate. During that same span, Cease took a career-high 884 innings but a higher ERA of 3.72. Cease’s 29.7% strikeout rate was close to Peralta’s, and Cease has a higher 9.7% walk rate. Peralta’s ground ball rate of 37.7% was slightly higher than Cease’s 37% clip.
If Peralta wants to get something like a Cease deal, Stearns will have to go somewhere new to keep him with the Mets. A deal in that range would require Stearns to more than double its previous highs, both in terms of length and guarantee. Maybe he’s willing to let go of his past tendencies since he clearly likes Peralta.
Peralta will risk not signing now, as there is always the possibility of a striker getting injured. Maybe there’s a middle ground that can work for both sides now, where Peralta doesn’t fully maximize his income by going into free agency next winter, but still locks in a really valuable guarantee.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
