This NY Mets-Freddy Peralta trade package is more realistic than Tarik Skubal madness

Goro from Mortal Kombat doesn’t have enough arms and legs to pay for Tarik Skubal. The Detroit Tigers ace has only one year of team control left, but the price should be more than a team should sensibly be willing to pay. That’s not to say the majority of New York Mets fans would be upset at the idea of acquiring Skubal for a year with hopes of extending or re-signing him. Anything short of including Nolan McLean, which just doesn’t make much sense, would suffice.

A few states over from Michigan, maybe across a lake or two, the Milwaukee Brewers will have their own number one starter available. Freddy Peralta isn’t at Skubal’s level, but a fine addition and not someone who’ll deplete the farm to acquire. He’s coming off of a brilliant season with the best regular season team in baseball. Undoubtedly a target of the Mets if only because David Stearns traded for him before and knows what he’s capable of, Peralta is right there alongside Skubal as a tempting chip to land.

If so, what could it cost? Let’s play GM and make an offer.

The Brewers get another young pitcher, a position player of their choice, and a minor league reliever coming off of a good season from the Mets

Before the season began, Brandon Sproat was viewed far more favorably than Jonah Tong. The only thing to change this was the big league performance. Between the two, Sproat feels to have a more mid-rotation upside. Tong was way too dominant in the minor leagues to give up for a year’s rental of Peralta. Sproat, on the other hand, feels like he’s beginning to get lost and more of a trade asset than an actual regular in a future Mets rotation. He’s the headliner here.

Next, we give the Brewers a choice. You can have the power-hitting first baseman Ryan Clifford or the speed of A.J. Ewing. Heck, if you wanted to, you can take Nick Morabito. Clifford and Ewing are more highly ranked and not yet eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, complicating Morabito’s trade status in the early part of this winter. The Mets can afford to lose Clifford (is he really the first baseman of the future?) and Ewing (a lesser version of Jett Williams). Based on the structure of their roster, Ewing is probably more interesting to the Brewers. However, they could view Clifford favorably because of how much power they could benefit from having.

We finish the trade package off with Hunter Hodges. Who? A non-drafted free agent from the summer of 2024, Hodges combined to pitch to a 2.77 ERA in A-Ball and High-A. Control was his problem with 7.1 BB/9. Predictably, it came with an excellent 12.6 K/9 rate. If not Hodges, the Brewers can scout out another unranked prospect they’re high on. 

Enough? Too much? The end of the relationship between Stearns and Brewers because of how insulting of an offer it is? The deal includes two former top 100 prospects if Clifford is the choice with a rising one in Ewing if that’s the preference. It’s not conclusive what Milwaukee is looking to get for Peralta. They’re pretty set at multiple positions. Players on the verge of being significant big league contributors seem to fit them best.