The San Diego Padres are bringing a new left-handed option to its bullpen. The Padres are in agreement with veteran reliever Wandy Peralta on a four-year, $16.5 million contract, per Ken Rosenthal. The deal contains three opt-outs.
Peralta, 32, joins the Padres after spending three seasons with the New York Yankees. He was brilliant for the Yankees during this tenure with the team, proving to be one of the franchise's most consistent pitchers.
Peralta posted a 2.82 ERA in 165 appearances with the Yankees, adding 11 saves and 32 holds to his 10-9 record. He pitched in 63 games last season, recording a 2.83 ERA with 51 strikeouts. He led the Yankees with 18 holds in 2023 and saved four games in seven opportunities.
After struggling for much of his first four seasons in the MLB with the Cincinnati Reds, Peralta's career took a turn for the better when he was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants late in the 2019 season.
Peralta posted a 5.00 ERA throughout his 177 appearances with the Reds. Since then he has a 3.01 ERA in 208 games and posted a sub-3 ERA in each of the last two seasons.
Padres finding Hader replacements
It's hard to find a replacement for a player of Josh Hader's caliber. Given their payroll situation entering the offseason, the Padres likely forecasted that they would lose their All-Star closer in MLB free agency.
That's exactly what happened as Hader signed a five-year, $95 million deal with the Houston Astros earlier this month.
In light of that, the majority of San Diego's moves this winter have been on the pitching side. Four of the five players the Padres acquired from the Yankees in the Juan Soto trade are pitchers. The Padres also signed five-time NPB All-Star reliever Yuki Matsui and respected Korean reliever Woo Suk Go to bolster the bullpen.
Padres relievers ranked 10th in bullpen ERA last season but inconsistencies hurt San Diego's playoff chances. Though perhaps not the biggest problem that San Diego needs to solve, there's no denying AJ Preller and crew are making sure the bullpen isn't the cause of a Padres downfall in 2024.
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