Coming off a 97-win season and a National League Championship Series appearance, the Milwaukee Brewers should not be talking about selling off a cornerstone of their rotation. They don’t want to be. The franchise has every reason to run it back in 2026.

But the rest of the league isn’t buying the team’s public stance that they are not listening to potential trades for Freddy Peralta, former MLB GM Jim Bowden claims.  They have a top-five Cy Young finisher who is making just $8 million in his walk year and they cannot just let him play out his contract, walk away and only have a draft pick to show for it.

They will get their biggest return this winter with contenders like the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants looking for pitching. The Brewers are in the driver’s seat and any Peralta offer must check two very specific boxes. They need a young, controllable starting pitcher and a shortstop with upside. Matt Arnold’s front office watched the Corbin Burnes trade under-deliver and saw Willy Adames walk for only a compensatory pick. They know how small the margin is between a smart sell and a missed opportunity.

That’s why so many contenders match the Brewers’ template.

Coming off a 97-win season and a National League Championship Series appearance, the Milwaukee Brewers should not be talking about selling off a cornerstone of their rotation. They don’t want to be. The franchise has every reason to run it back in 2026.

But the rest of the league isn’t buying the team’s public stance that they are not listening to potential trades for Freddy Peralta, former MLB GM Jim Bowden claims.  They have a top-five Cy Young finisher who is making just $8 million in his walk year and they cannot just let him play out his contract, walk away and only have a draft pick to show for it.

They will get their biggest return this winter with contenders like the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants looking for pitching. The Brewers are in the driver’s seat and any Peralta offer must check two very specific boxes. They need a young, controllable starting pitcher and a shortstop with upside. Matt Arnold’s front office watched the Corbin Burnes trade under-deliver and saw Willy Adames walk for only a compensatory pick. They know how small the margin is between a smart sell and a missed opportunity.

The Brewers may still hold him, and that’s a totally defensible play for a 97-win club. But the board is set. If a contender puts a controllable pitcher and a shortstop with power on the table, Milwaukee’s “no” turns into “maybe,” and maybe becomes very interesting very fast.