Grading 4 NY Mets trade packages for Brewers ace Freddy Peralta

John Wolff's packge to bring Freddy Peralta to the Mets: 1B/OF Ryan Clifford (No. 8), RHP Will Watson (No. 11)

John agrees with Noah that it will only take two players, but these two are completely different. Continuing the theme, a pitcher and a versatile position player are going to Milwaukee in exchange for Peralta, but this is the first time we're seeing Ryan Clifford's name thrown out.

And with that, Clifford could be the most tantalizing name for Milwaukee that we've seen thus far. The Brewers are moving on from Rhys Hoskins, and the plan now is to fill the void with breakout darling Andrew Vaughn at first base.

Here's the thing, though, while Vaughn might not be as bad as he looked in the first half with the White Sox, he's probably not the same superstar caliber player that he appeared to be once Milwaukee picked him up. After all, this is a guy entering his age-28 season with a career 101 OPS+, not exactly a proven slugger at first base.

Clifford's ability to play the outfield also gives them an option to hedge against Jake Bauers in the outfield. The 30-year-old has been a replacement-level player the majority of his career, and Clifford brings corner outfield versatility.

He's also the only prospect of all that have been mentioned to not only reach, but hold his own at Triple-A. That matters as he can likely contribute in 2026, while the rest are looking more like 2027 arrivals.

That probably puts this package over the top for Milwaukee, but we still see the Mets only shedding prospects who are (likely) blocked in the bigs, assuming they bring in a star first baseman, be it a reunion with Pete Alonso or another free-agent option.

Grade for the Mets - B+ / Grade for the Brewers - B+

A few key takeaways

All of our writers agree the Mets won't need to part with a top-five prospect, which is a win and seems right from a value perspective. They all also agree that it will take a combination of at least one arm with starter potential and one versatile position player, which aligns perfectly with the Brewers' needs.

As mentioned before, A.J. Ewing seems like the most tradeable prospect. Everyone except for John Wolff had him included in their packages, and the reasons all make sense.

With that said, Ryan Clifford feels like a better fit for what the Brewers need. First, he's the furthest along, which matters because Milwaukee still wants to compete. Secondly, frst base and/or an outfield corner are their weakest spots. The infield already has a budding star in Bryce Turang at second, which eliminates Ewing from contention for that spot, while Jackson Chourio is the long-term answer in center.

For that reason, I believe the Brewers will prefer Clifford to Ewing, though Clifford hurts the Mets a bit more. There's a world where the strikeout on reuniting with Pete Alonso and signing either Josh Naylor or Japanese imports Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami, and instead go with a stopgap option, such as Paul Goldschmidt. In that doomsday scenario, trading Clifford would really sting.

Sometimes a little pain is what's required to pull off a trade of this magnitude, which is why I rated John's proposal as the best for both sides.