Rays' Freddy Peralta gets bad news on free-agency with nine-figure report

The Tampa Bay Rays made a couple of moves at the 2026 MLB trade deadline, with the Liam Hicks addition being their best. But the flier they took on Freddy Peralta was a great decision as well.

He struggled with the New York Mets before being traded, but has rebounded a bit with the Rays. Peralta, a rental for this season since he's slated to hit the open market after 2026 is over, is having a much better time with the Rays than the Mets.

However, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan, it's likely too little too late for his free agency. Peralta is predicted by Passan to miss out on a nine-figure deal he could've gotten at the start of the year, and instead is headed for a one-year prove-it deal.

Freddy Peralta predicted to miss out on nine-figure contract

"Peralta has pitched better recently, and if he can continue this stretch (18 innings, two runs) through the remainder of the regular season and into October, he could salvage a free agency that right now looks more likely to net a one-year make-good deal than a nine-figure bonanza," Passan writes.

While there is still a chance for Peralta to land a big deal this offseason, it's going to take very few blemishes the rest of the way. That's just not very likely to happen.

In 22 starts with the Mets, he had a 4.99 ERA, which was quite disappointing. In seven starts with the Rays, he's been better, but not by such a significant degree that he's poised for a massive new deal.

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Peralta has a 4.35 ERA with the Rays, going 3-2 with 0.3 bWAR, which brings his overall season totals to a 4.82 ERA with 0.0 bWAR and an 8-11 record.

Even though he's been a bit better with the Rays than the Mets, it's not nearly enough to get Peralta above $100 million overall on a new deal.

More likely than not, Peralta will be signing a one-year contract for the 2027 MLB season with the hopes of landing a huge contract in the 2027-2028 free agency period.

But for now, Peralta's most likely contract will be a prove-it deal with a contender. A return to the Rays would make sense, as could a return to the Milwaukee Brewers. Regardless of his landing spot, it's not likely to be a large contract for Peralta.

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