A busy Major League Baseball winter has quickly turned the financials of Freddy Peralta from one of the Brewers’ best bargains to talking points about the Mets’ payroll. That makes the right-hander, who is only controlled through the end of the 2026 season with the extension he signed earlier in his career, likely not just a perfect fit for a contender in the short-term but probably a big-name free agent even sooner than later.
That was before the January 2026 trade that sent Freddy Peralta to New York and essentially changed his financial trajectory. Part of a win-now deal for the Mets, the soon-to-be-31-year-old Peralta immediately became a big name that will be on the radar of anyone looking ahead to the next free agent class. Although it did not alter his existing contract, the trade bolstered his stock and bargaining position in advance of the last season of team control.
Freddy Peralta’s 2026 MLB salary and contract structure
Peralta is in the last of a five-year, $15. 5 million team-friendly extension he signed in 2020 (the deal included club options). His salary comes in at just under $8 million for 2026, a figure well below the top end of starting pitcher pay, given the frontline-quality numbers he produces.
That figure is probably more indicative of early-career security than of what the market actually has to offer today. Similar players with similar durability and strikeout rates command two- to three-times that amount per season.
The appeal was apparent for the Mets, as they added a reliable arm without taking on any long-term financial obligation, and for Peralta, he gets to pitch in a big market in a walk year.
Breaking down Freddy Peralta’s net worth and overall earnings in 2026
Peralta’s career MLB earnings are set to be right around the low-to-mid $20 million range before taxes, agent fees, and living expenses by the end of the 2026 season. Net-worth estimates vary widely, but most put him in the mid-single-digit to low-eight-figure range in 2026, after accounting for savings, a modest endorsement income, and typical professional-athletes-go-broke planning.
But what really determines Peralta’s financial future is what happens next. There is a reasonable expectation among league execs that he will explore free agency post-2026, and early industry murmurs indicate a multi-year deal beyond the $100 million threshold if health and production stick around. That kind of contract would immediately eclipse his career earnings to this point and reset any conversation about his worth.
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