What Could a Freddy Peralta Extension Look Like for Mets?

Freddy Peralta is an incredibly accomplished pitcher, and after the Mets traded Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat for him and Tobias Myers, it would make sense for the club to try to extend him. Peralta is a two-time All-Star coming off a season in which he placed in the top five of NL Cy Young Award voting. Since signing his initial extension before the 2020 season, he has pitched 767 2/3 innings to a 3.33 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with a 29.9% strikeout rate and 9.0% walk rate.

Peralta is not an ace to the level of Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes, but he has been around a top-20 pitcher in the sport for long enough that it would make sense to lock him up for the remainder of his prime.

Peralta’s initial extension, which included club options, came out to seven years and $30 million and will conclude with the 2026 season. He may now be looking to capitalize on his stellar 2025 season. Can David Stearns extend him again?

Comparisons

Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic laid out three great comparisons for Peralta: Tyler Glasnow, Luis Castillo, and Joe Musgrove. They all were extended at age 30, the same age season Peralta is entering. Ranger Suárez, who just signed with the Red Sox in free agency, is another example they gave that could be a comparison to Peralta. Another name I would add is Kevin Gausman.

Before we dive into these names, here is a quick baseline for Peralta. He is a career 3.59 ERA and 1.13 WHIP pitcher, who became a full-time starter in 2021 and has made 30 or more starts in each of the last three seasons.

Tyler Glasnow

Glasnow signed a five-year, $136.6 million contract, which bought out the final year of the contract he already had and included $111.6 million in new money. Across 529.2 innings at the time he signed, he was a career 3.89 ERA and 1.21 WHIP pitcher with a 30.9% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate. He did not have Peralta’s durability and had never completed more than 21 starts in a season before signing. He signed with one season to go before free agency.

Luis Castillo

Castillo signed his contract before the end of the 2022 season for five-years and $108 million. This bought out his final year of arbitration and includes a vesting $25 million player option for 2028 if he hits 180 innings in 2027. If he misses 130 games due to UCL surgery, it becomes a $5 million player option. Heading into the extension, Castillo pitched 857.2 innings to a 3.59 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with a 26.3% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate. His extension was signed soon after he was traded to the Mariners.

Joe Musgrove

Musgrove signed his five-year, $100 million extension towards the end of the 2022 season before he would have entered free agency. Heading into the extension, he had thrown 859 innings to a 3.79 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with a 23.8% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate. He had pitched 30 starts in all of the prior three full seasons, and when he signed the extension, he was near the end of a 2.98 ERA and 1.08 WHIP campaign.

Ranger Suárez

Súarez recently signed a five-year, $130 million contract with the Red Sox, which includes a $35 million mutual option in 2031 with a $10 million buyout. To date, Suárez has pitched 762 innings to a 3.38 ERA and 1.27 WHIP with a 22.1% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. He has struggled with injuries and has yet to make 30 starts in a single season.

Kevin Gausman

Gausman signed his five-year, $110 million contract in free agency heading into the 2022 season. At the time of signing, he had pitched 1177.1 innings to a 4.02 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with a 23.4% strikeout rate and 7.0% walk rate. He completed at least 30 starts in four of the previous five full seasons, and the four seasons before signing, he pitched to a 3.83 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate, despite most of that time taking place during the juiced ball era.

Proposed Offer

Peralta’s agency, ACES, has worked on extensions with the Mets before, with the most notable player being David Wright. Players signed to their agency have a history of signing extensions, including Logan Webb, Carlos Carrasco, Yandy Díaz and Charlie Blackmon. Since 2015, ACES is third to only CAA Sports and Wasserman, with its 23 extensions.

Peralta will likely want a front-loaded contract. He may even want a deal that begins in the 2026 season, paying him more than the $8 million he is owed for the year. The Mets, meanwhile, may not want to commit to Peralta past his age-34 season.

On a contract that starts in the 2026 season, he will likely want to make more than $100 million in new money with a significant signing bonus. To get that signing bonus, the Mets may want a club option at the end of the contract.

So, I am proposing a five-year, $130 million extension beginning in 2026 with a $22 million signing bonus paid out before this upcoming season. His salary for 2026 would still be $8 million, and he would then be paid $25 million each of the remaining four years. This contract would include a $25 million club option for 2031 with a $5 million buyout. That would make the guaranteed amount $135 million with $127 million in new money.

It could also be viewed as Peralta signing a four-year, $127 million contract ($31.75M AAV) after the 2026 season, but this version would make the five year competitive-balance tax hit $25.4 mil and Peralta would get a good chunk of the contract early, and also he could claim it based on his primary home for tax purposes instead of New York City.

Final Contract: 2026-2030, five-years, $130 million, with a 2031 club option worth $25 million ($5M buyout).

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