Orioles have a chance to end up with offseason target they missed out on

This past offseason, the Baltimore Orioles were in the market for pitching. At the same time, the Brewers were looking to sell off their staff ace, Freddy Peralta, after a career season, so that they could get something for him a year before he hit the open market in free agency. The Orioles and Brewers had come together on a very similar trade a few seasons prior, when the Brewers were doing the same thing with Corbin Burnes, and that trade worked out well for both teams. That being the case, it made sense that the two teams, once again in the same situation, might once again work out a mutually beneficial deal that sent Peralta to Baltimore for a couple of promising prospects. In the end, however, the Mets won the Peralta "bidding war," and the Orioles set their sights elsewhere.

Fast forwarding to today, the Orioles likely feel like they dodged a bullet by not trading for Peralta, as he has not been nearly as effective as he was in 2025, and it would have cost them two of their top prospects, think Dylan Beavers and Trey Gibson. As happy as the Orioles may be to still have those guys, they do still need help in their rotation. With the Mets at the bottom of the NL standings and Peralta set to reach free agency after this season, the Orioles should be interested in acquiring Peralta as a pure rental to help their struggling rotation get through the rest of this season.

The Orioles could use a pitcher like Freddy Peralta even if he's not an ace

As “disappointing” as Peralta has been for the Mets, he'd still be a massive upgrade for the Orioles rotation. Expectations are everything; the Mets traded for him expecting him to be a Cy Young candidate, so his solid but unspectacular production feels brutal. If Peralta could be the exact same "disappointing" guy he's been this year for the Orioles, he might be the best starter in their rotation. Here is where he'd rank on the Orioles rotation in several key stats:

ERA: 3rd
xERA: 1st
FIP: 3rd
xFIP: 1st
K%: 1st

Looking at the numbers it's clear that even this version of Peralta would be a great help to the Orioles.

What's great about trading for Peralta at the deadline instead of in the offseason is that he should be much cheaper than he was a few months ago. Whatever team trades for him gets him for less time, and his play has made him a less valuable player than what he was considered in the offseason.

Rather than giving up two of their top prospects, the Orioles could send the Mets a couple of "interesting prospects". Could a shotgun blast of lower-ranking prospects with a Creed Willems centerpiece be enough to get the Mets to hand over Peralta? Or will the bidding get hot enough that the Orioles would have to put someone more coveted in the deal? It's hard to say right now, so far away from the deadline, but even if the bidding gets super hot, there's no way it's touching what the Mets sent out to get Peralta in the offseason.

If the Orioles have any ambition to make the playoffs this season, they'll need to add a real pitcher at this deadline, and from the looks of it, there might not be many on the move. They should keep a close eye on Peralta and make sure that if he does move, they're involved in the conversations.

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