Here’s some food for thought as you gobble your way through Thanksgiving leftovers: Milwaukee Brewers ace Freddy Peralta toeing the rubber at Fenway Park … for the Boston Red Sox.
The Athletic’s Jim Bowden pitched five blockbuster trades involving the Brewers right-hander, should Milwaukee part ways with its rotation stud. One of them included the Red Sox.
Potential Blockbuster Trade
To get Peralta, Bowden said Boston would need to part ways with left-hander Payton Tolle and right-hander Anthony Eyanson, two of the club’s top pitching prospects.
“Tolle doesn’t have a ceiling anywhere close to Peralta’s, but he could fit immediately into the Brewers’ rotation, and they would have Tolle under team control for six years,” Bowden wrote.
“A second-round pick in 2024 out of TCU, Tolle climbed from High A to the big leagues in his professional debut season in 2025. He posted a 6.06 ERA at the major-league level with Boston in just 16 1/3 innings, but in the minors put up a 3.04 ERA over 91 2/3 innings,” Bowden added.
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“Eyanson starred for LSU in 2025, helping lead the Tigers to a College World Series title in his first year with the school,” Bowden noted. “The right-hander went 12-2 with a 3.25 ERA before going to Boston in the third round and signing an over-slot deal. His best pitch is his slider. He will be making his professional debut in 2026.”
MLB.com ranks Tolle as the Red Sox’s No. 2 prospect, behind infielder Franklin Arias. Eyanson is No. 12 in the Boston farm system.
Ace On The Market
As for Peralta, the 29-year-old is a two-time All-Star and won a career-high 17 games this season while posting a career-low 2.70 ERA. He finished fifth in voting for the 2025 National League Cy Young Award, which went to Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes.
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So why are the Brewers considering trading Peralta, who helped Milwaukee reach the National League Championship Series this year?
He’s scheduled to become a free agent after the 2026 season and the Brewers fear he could walk without anything coming back to Milwaukee aside from draft-pick compensation.
The other teams Bowden predicts could be in the market for Peralta, who will make just $8 million this year, are the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants.
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Will chief baseball officer Craig Breslow have the Red Sox in the hunt?
The club already traded for St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray, but the 36-year-old doesn’t project as a true No. 2 to put in the rotation behind Cy Young contender Garrett Crochet. Peralta, however, would give Boston perhaps the best 1-2 combo in baseball.
Just food for thought.
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