Mets blow potential Yankees offer out of the water in blockbuster Freddy Peralta trade

The pitcher whose name has been included in the highest percentage of Yankee fan tweets that begin with "Bring me ______" this offseason WILL be headed to New York. Unfortunately, he'll be wearing Blue and Orange.

Just a half-day after the Yankees finally brought Cody Bellinger back on a five-year contract he can opt out of after the second campaign, the Mets have reportedly acquired both Freddy Peralta and depth possibility Tobias Myers, one of the standout rookies of 2024, from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Though the Yankees missed out on a great deal of offseason possibilities while staring down Bellinger, Peralta was one of the few difference-makers who remained available to them, as of this afternoon. That is no longer the case.

Of course, it takes two to tango. The Yankees could've called as many times as they felt like. With their thin system and inability to satisfy Milwaukee's apparent request for an MLB-ready pitcher and a top 100 offensive prospect, there was just no way they were topping the Mets' offer that got it done.

Yankees miss out on Freddy Peralta after Mets pull off trade with Brewers

Credit to Steve Cohen and David Stearns. It started off strangely, and some of the fits are still imperfect, but they took out the rotted garbage from their 2025 collapse and strengthened the rotation with the biggest upside play to change hands this offseason.

And they didn't have to steal Bellinger to make some kind of final statement.

Just over one week ago, a sourced report out of Milwaukee indicated the Yankees might be in the lead in the Peralta chase with a Luis Gil-led package. At the time, adding Spencer Jones to Gil (or Will Warren) felt like an easy way to get a swap across the finish line. Now, it seems fairly clear the Brewers always had higher ambitions.

Gil and Warren both have more substantive MLB experience than Sproat, but the Mets right-hander has more prospect pedigree. Sometimes, the unknown is more tempting; he ranked 61st in Baseball America's pre-2025 Top 100 list, but had fallen behind both Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong in the Mets' pecking order, slotting in at No. 81 on the list's new edition.

Williams, ranked 58th in the same Baseball America list and 71st in the new one, was unmatchable. The Yankees equivalent would've been Dax Kilby or George Lombard Jr. (rather than Jones or Jasson Dominguez). That was never going to happen for a rental starter, even one with Peralta's upside.

Expect the Yankees to continue to chase depth starters, a bullpen piece, and a righty catcher. Losing out on an upper-tier starter is a familiar feeling, but unfortunately, there was nothing they could do here once the Mets cashed in their top two chips.