The Milwaukee Brewers finished the 2025 regular season with MLB’s best record (97-65) and made it all the way to the NLCS before being swept by the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Brewers are planning to run back almost the entire team in 2026 and are off to an auspicious start after right-handed starter Brandon Woodruff accepted the $22.025 million qualifying offer, locking him in for the 2026 season.
The Brewers expect their rotation to be a strength once again next season, as Woodruff rejoins a group currently led by team ace Freddy Peralta, as well as right-handers Jacob Misiorowski, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick. Of course, this assumes the Brewers don’t trade Peralta before the start of the season, something they say they don’t plan to do but may have to consider given that Peralta is a free agent at the end of the season.
When faced with a player entering his walk season, the Brewers have handled the situation in different ways. Two years ago, their ace Corbin Burnes was also entering his free-agent year and was due to make around $15 million for the 2024 season. Rather than keep him and let him go into free agency without getting back more than draft compensation, they traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for shortstop Joey Ortiz, southpaw DL Hall and a draft pick.
Ortiz has been solid defensively for Milwaukee the past two seasons with little offense to go with it, while Hall has endured injuries and put up mediocre results over the 81 2/3 innings he’s pitched for them over the past two years. The Brewers also received the 34th pick in the 2024 draft and used that on Tennessee first baseman Blake Burke, who finished the 2025 season in Double A. In hindsight, the deal really wasn’t worth it for Milwaukee outside of saving Burnes’ salary.
On the flip side, the Brewers kept shortstop Willy Adames for his walk season. He eventually signed with the San Francisco Giants in free agency, and they received only a draft pick between the first round and Competitive Balance Round A as compensation (they selected high school shortstop Brady Ebel with the pick).
The Brewers elected to keep Willy Adames for his entire free-agent walk season. (Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
As the Brewers assess whether to keep Peralta or trade him, they’ll weigh the options knowing Peralta is set to make just $8 million in 2026, a little more than half of what Burnes was going to make in 2024. Therefore, the Brewers won’t gain the same financial savings as they did in the Burnes deal, and if the trade return ended up being similar to what they got for Burnes, it’d probably be better to hold onto him since they are World Series contenders.
That seems to be the position that two-time Executive of the Year Matt Arnold is taking, and it makes sense. Peralta will earn just a quarter of what he’d be worth on the open market this season, and with the Brewers coming off 97 wins, why not try to give this team one more shot at a title?
There is a caveat to the existing plan, however. If some contending team steps up with a trade offer that allows the Brewers to not only maintain their competitiveness for 2026 but also help Milwaukee’s roster get younger and give the team a better chance to succeed in 2027 and beyond, then the Brewers won’t be afraid to make the deal.
Peralta enters 2026 coming off his best season. He was worth 5.5 bWAR in 2025 and won an NL-best 17 games while posting a 2.70 ERA in 33 starts. He finished fifth in the NL Cy Young Award balloting. Another season like that one and he’ll be one of the top free agents available next season.
Peralta is represented by Aces. Historically, clients of that agency have been willing to listen to long-term extension offers before they enter free agency. It’s unlikely the Brewers are going to be able to afford to extend Peralta themselves, but several big-market teams have the financial wherewithal to extend Peralta and are looking for starting pitchers this offseason, like the Braves, Red Sox, Yankees, Giants and Blue Jays.
As much as I’d like to bet the Brewers don’t trade Peralta this winter, I also believe some of these contending teams could be willing to make the type of offer that encourages Milwaukee to trade him.
The Brewers have identified young, controllable starting pitching and shortstop as their two biggest areas of need, so look for those areas to be the focus of any trade return discussions. Peralta’s status as a one-year rental does minimize what they can expect in to get in return to some degree, but if they can get at least a solid starter back and another option at shortstop, they might have to consider the offer.
Here are five trade ideas that Milwaukee would have to at least cogitate on if offered:
Atlanta BravesProposed trade return: RHP JR Ritchie and SS Alex Lodise
If the Braves offered right-hander JR Ritchie and shortstop Alex Lodise, I believe a deal could get done.
Ritchie, 22, was the Braves’ 2022 first-round selection out of high school. He had Tommy John surgery midway through the 2023 season, returning in July 2024. He was outstanding in 2025 in his first fully healthy professional season, posting a 2.64 ERA over 26 starts spread between three minor-league levels, including 11 starts in Triple A. His mid-90s fastball and wipeout slider are both plus pitches. He still needs work on command and control, but he should develop into a solid mid-rotation starter in time.
JR Ritchie reached Triple A in 2025, his first fully healthy season as a pro. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)
Lodise was the Braves’ second-round pick in July out of Florida State. He won the Dick Howser Award for FSU in 2025 after hitting .394/.462/.705 with 17 homers as a junior. With the Brewers wanting to stockpile shortstops who hit for power, he’s a perfect fit.
To make this type of offer, the Braves would probably make the deal contingent on their ability to extend Peralta during a time-limited negotiating window.
Boston Red SoxProposed trade return: LHP Payton Tolle and RHP Anthony Eyanson
The Red Sox have seen early success from their revamped pitching development program and have some talented arms they could dangle in a deal, specifically southpaw Payton Tolle and right-hander Anthony Eyanson.
Tolle doesn’t have a ceiling anywhere close to Peralta’s, but he could fit immediately into the Brewers’ rotation, and they would have Tolle under team control for six years. A second-round pick in 2024 out of TCU, Tolle climbed from High A to the big leagues in his professional debut season in 2025. He posted a 6.06 ERA at the major-league level with Boston in just 16 1/3 innings, but in the minors put up a 3.04 ERA over 91 2/3 innings.
A big-bodied left-hander, Tolle gets outstanding extension down the mound in his delivery — ranking in the 99th percentile in MLB in 2025, according to Statcast — and averaged 96.6 mph on his fastball in his first taste of the big leagues. He has five pitches but mostly threw his fastball and cutter in his big-league debut.
Payton Tolle went from High A to the big leagues in his professional debut season. (Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)
Eyanson starred for LSU in 2025, helping lead the Tigers to a College World Series title in his first year with the school. The right-hander went 12-2 with a 3.25 ERA before going to Boston in the third round and signing an over-slot deal. His best pitch is his slider. He will be making his professional debut in 2026.
New York MetsProposed trade return: RHP Brandon Sproat and INF/OF Luisangel Acuña
The Mets could offer Sproat, who reached the big leagues at the end of the 2025 season and is one of their top pitching prospects. In Triple A this past season, he went 8-6 with a 4.24 ERA over 121 innings, striking out 115 but walking 53. He has a 96-98 mph fastball with a plus sweeper and a developing changeup. He needs to work on control and command, but profiles as a solid mid-rotation starter who has potential upside greater than that if he can sharpen his command.
Brandon Sproat can miss bats but needs to improve his command and control. (Katie Stratman / Imagn Images)
Acuña, the younger brother of Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña, can play second base or shortstop. The 23-year-old batted .234 in 175 at-bats in the majors for the Mets last year. However, at Triple-A Syracuse, he slashed .303/.347/.385 in 109 at-bats. He could compete with Ortiz for playing time at shortstop or be used as a super-utility player (he can also play in the outfield). He doesn’t have his brother’s tools, but if given an opportunity and consistent at-bats, he could bring value thanks to his above-average speed, ability to hit for average and versatility. (Note: Acuña left a Venezuelan Winter League game on Friday after being hit by a pitch in the left arm. As of Sunday, there was no update on his condition.)
New York YankeesProposed trade return: RHP Will Warren and SS Jose Caballero
The Yankees could dangle right-handed starting pitcher Will Warren and shortstop Jose Caballero for Peralta, giving the Brewers two players to slot onto their major-league roster immediately.
Warren would step right into the Brewers’ rotation, and they would control him for five more years. Warren, 26, was 9-8 last year for the Yankees with a 4.44 ERA in 162 1/3 innings with 171 strikeouts. Of course, Peralta is a No. 1-type starter and Warren is more of a mid-rotation arm, but mid-rotation starters with that much team control left can be a valuable part of roster building. Warren has a plus fastball and the Brewers have a history of getting the most out of their pitching talent.
Will Warren threw 162 1/3 innings for the Yankees in 2025. (Al Bello / Getty Images)
It may be hard for the Yankees to move Caballero if they anticipate needing him to fill in at shortstop at the start of the 2026 season as Anthony Volpe recovers from shoulder surgery. That said, if they can figure out another solution at short, Caballero would potentially be an attractive trade chip to the Brewers. Caballero could share shortstop with Ortiz and fill in practically anywhere else on the field as needed. The Brewers always embrace speed and Caballero, 29, has plenty of that. He has swiped more than 40 bases in each of the past two seasons.
San Francisco GiantsProposed trade return: RHP Landen Roupp and 2B/SS Jhonny Level
The Giants can offer a rotation-ready arm and a middle-of-the-diamond prospect who could help the Brewers in a few years.
Roupp, 27, had his breakout season at the major-league level in 2025 before suffering a left knee sprain in late August that didn’t require surgery but ended his season. Before that, he made 22 starts, posting a 3.80 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 106 2/3 innings. Batters struggled against his secondary pitches, highlighted by the fact that they hit just .197 against his curveball and .192 against his changeup. He profiles as a mid-rotation type starter but is controllable through 2030.
Landen Roupp was one of the Giants’ most consistent starters before a knee injury ended his season early. (Rich von Biberstein / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Level, 18, signed with the Giants out of Venezuela in January 2024. He starred in the Dominican Summer League that season and hit .288/.375/.493 in the Arizona Complex League this past season before finishing in Low A. He has an above-average hit tool and has power. He’s a good athlete who can run. Level is one of the Giants’ top prospects, but they have two other shortstop prospects among their top group (Josuar Gonzalez and Gavin Kilen), allowing them to take this risk for the opportunity to pair Peralta with Logan Webb at the top of their rotation for at least a season.