The Milwaukee Brewers traded Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets before the season started, and he struggled immensely.
Peralta had a 4.99 ERA with the Mets through 22 starts with the Mets, but the Tampa Bay Rays took a chance on him at the trade deadline. He had a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts with the team and was phenomenal in the postseason until the Brewers got after him in Game 3 of the World Series.
He had a 0.79 ERA in his final six regular-season starts, and set himself up to get paid again. He looks like the second-best pitcher on the open market, behind only Tarik Skubal, and some team is going to pay him. The Athletic's Jim Bowden predicts that Peralta will get a five-year, $140 million deal.
A deal with a $140 million total value would be more than Tyler Glasnow, Jesús Luzardo, Ranger Suarez, Zack Wheeler and Framber Valdez.
The $28 million average annual value is slightly less than Dylan Cease and about on par with Garrett Crochet. Is Peralta as good as either of them?
It's hard to argue that Peralta needs to be paid like Crochet or Cease, and $140 million seems like an overpay. However, that may be what it takes to get him. Behind Skubal, Peralta and Michael King, there is a huge drop-off in the quality of starting pitchers on the open market.
That, paired with the fact that there may be a lockout impending, Peralta may secure a deal that yields him more than he actually deserves, but there's no denying he's a quality pitcher.