The Milwaukee Brewers are operating on a shoestring budget (relative to other MLB teams), and that only means one thing: they are set to trade another key contributor for the team before he hits free agency. In this year's edition of the Brewers' signature offseason move, their ace in Freddy Peralta is being dangled on the trade market as he's in the final year of his contract making $8 million in 2026.
However, timing is key for a Peralta trade from the Brewers, with MLB Network analyst and insider Steve Phillips suggesting that Milwaukee should hold off on any trade of their 29-year-old ace and wait for the Detroit Tigers to trade Tarik Skubal away.
“The Brewers would be better served waiting for a Tarik Skubal trade and then trading Peralta. … The reason is that Skubal deal is going to be bigger than the Peralta deal,” Phillips said.
“All those teams that are interested in Peralta would also want Skubal. They're gonna give more prospects for Skubal than they would Peralta. So for me, I want to deal with teams who've already accepted the level of pain that it was going to take to get Skubal.”
Could we see an ace on the move from Milwaukee?
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— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) January 6, 2026
Brewers might be better off being proactive in Freddy Peralta trade talks
Waiting for the Tigers to trade Skubal away sounds good in theory, but Detroit isn't even guaranteed to trade its ace away. For one, the Tigers made it to the playoffs last season, and perhaps they would value whatever Skubal could give them next season instead of jumping the gun on a potential trade. Moreover, Skubal should command a king's ransom anyway if the Tigers end up dangling him come the trade deadline.
Meanwhile, the Brewers don't have such luxury. They have to prioritize getting as big of a return for Peralta as possible considering how they operate, so they might want to be proactive on the market instead of being reactive.
