As the offseason evolved, Freddy Peralta “had a feeling” he’d end up in New York, reunited with a front office that had traded for him a decade ago in Milwaukee.
“I’m really happy to be here in New York and represent the New York Mets organization,” Peralta said. “It’s a different market, a different city. There’s a lot more fans, a lot more people watching. I like the competition we’re going to face here.
“I’m ready for this.”
Now, is Peralta ready for a longer-term agreement with the Mets?
“I just got here,” Peralta said. “I’ve got to see around and share time with my teammates, think about different ideas, learn about everybody — the coaches and the organization in general. And then we can see.”
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns had already traded for Peralta once before (in 2016, when Peralta was a 19-year-old prospect in the Seattle Mariners system), and he has already extended him before, too. That 2020 extension has been one of the game’s best bargains for the last half-decade and is why the right-hander is entering his final year of team control at a very affordable $8 million.
The Athletic previously reported that the Mets feel similarly about Peralta — that while an extension isn’t something they’re actively pursuing at the moment, they could be open to it down the road. We previously projected something in the range of four years and $112 million as a potential extension.
The acquisition of Peralta filled arguably New York’s paramount need entering the offseason: a frontline starter to lead a rotation that crumbled in the final months of the 2025 season. The Mets paid a significant price to land Peralta, sending a pair of top-100 prospects in infielder Jett Williams and starter Brandon Sproat to the Brewers.
Stearns talked about Peralta as “a player you trust” and one who is “consistently getting better.”
Peralta figures to be New York’s Opening Day starter, which wouldn’t be a new experience for him. He was an Opening Day starter in each of the last two seasons with Milwaukee, both times in New York. In 2024, he beat the Mets in Queens; in 2025, he lost to the Yankees in the Bronx.
The Mets open their season March 26 at home against Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Peralta has yet to decide whether he’ll compete in the World Baseball Classic this spring. He is looking forward to playing in a market with a larger Dominican population.
“That’s a new challenge for me,” he said, “because I know how we are. I know we have that hunger to win inside of us. I’m going to take that as a challenge to get better every five days, to give my best and make adjustments quicker. That’s the way I want to see it.”