The Boston Red Sox are on the hunt for starting pitching this offseason. At least, that’s what chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has said, most recently on the 310 to Left podcast this week when the Red Sox top baseball executive said that he plans to go after frontline starting pitchers, not merely rotation depth pieces.
At the same time the Red Sox have been generally reluctant about signing pitchers to lucrative, long-term contracts. Of the current staff, including starters and relievers, only Cy Young candidate Garrett Crochet and No. 2 starter Brayan Bello have contracts longer than four years. Crochet’s six year deal runs through 2031. Bello is also on a six-year extension that expires in 2030.
According to a new report on Saturday, however, one All-Star pitcher who was the ace of a playoff team’s starting staff appears likely to be placed on the trade block — and he is a pitcher the Red Sox have already been predicted to have on their trade radar.
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“As the winter unfolds, the Brewers are expected to at least field offers for starting pitcher Freddy Peralta, according to people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity in order to speak freely,” reported Andy McCullough of The Athletic on Saturday morning, just hours after Milwaukee was unceremoniously swept out of the National League Championship Series by the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Milwaukee holds an $8 million option for 2026 on Peralta, who went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA and made his second All-Star team this season.”
The Red Sox were linked to a trade for Peralta earlier this year when MLB experts believed that the 29-year-old could be dealt at the trade deadline.
But the deadline came and went and Peralta was still a Brewer, helping to propel Milwaukee to the best record in baseball. The Brew Crew won 97 games, and 17 of those were credited to Peralta, a total that led the National League and was only two wins shy of the New York Yankees‘ Max Fried who logged 19 pitcher wins.
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Peralta Could be Low-Priced Rental
Crochet recorded 18 wins, tied for second in the Major Leagues with another Yankees hurler, left Carlos Rodon.
No other Milwaukee pitcher was credited with more than 13 wins, a total belonging to Quinn Priester. Peralta’s 2.70 ERA was good enough for seventh in MLB, just behind Crochet’s 2.59.
With only one year remaining on Peralta’s contract, the Brewers would not be in a position to demand a high price for Peralta. One solid pitching prospect, perhaps combined with a lower-level prospect would likely get the trade done. The Red Sox could give up their No. 9 overall prospect Luis Perales — though he missed the 2025 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery in 2024.
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Sandlin, Romero Prospect Package
The Red Sox could also offer No. 10 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, David Sandlin, who was acquired in a trade from the Kansas City Royals in 2024 for reliever John Schreiber.
The 24-year-old Sandlin “struck out 33 percent of the batters he faced in his first two full pro seasons but also missed time with oblique and forearm strains,” according to MLB Pipeline.
If the Brewers demand another prospect, one Red Sox online account suggested including infielder Mikey Romero, a Red Sox first-round draft pick in 2022, but who may find his road to Fenway blocked in part by 2021 first-rounder Marcelo Mayer.
