Freddy Peralta’s time with the Tampa Bay Rays did more than steady his season - it may have completely changed the shape of his free agency.
After the Rays picked him up from the New York Mets at the MLB trade deadline, Peralta went from a pitcher trying to find himself to one of the offseason’s more intriguing names. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel now projects him to land a four-year, $96 million deal, a number that says plenty about how much Tampa Bay helped restore his value.
“3. Freddy Peralta, RHSP... Projected contract/QO: four years, $96 million (24 AAV), not eligible for QO,” McDaniel projects for ESPN.
That’s a major leap from where Peralta seemed headed during his rough stretch with the Mets. He struggled to a 4.99 ERA in New York, and the way things were going, a one-year prove-it deal looked like a real possibility.
Instead, the Rays got the version they were hoping for. Peralta posted a 3.52 ERA in the regular season after the trade and followed that with a 2.95 ERA in the postseason as Tampa Bay reached the World Series.
The projected $96 million payday isn’t in the same neighborhood as the $210 million contract Dylan Cease got last offseason, a deal Peralta might have been chasing if he had put together a strong year from start to finish. But it’s still a strong outcome, and a solid middle ground for a pitcher whose market could have gone in a very different direction.
At $24 million per year, the projection comes in above the one-year qualifying offer he might have been staring at before his turnaround in Tampa Bay. McDaniel’s number also underscores just how much money Peralta may have rescued with his late-season rebound - potentially more than $70 million compared with where he might have landed otherwise.
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