Wandy Peralta Signing With Padres

Updated Post – Jan. 31 at 11:55 AM

The San Diego Padres have signed veteran reliever Wandy Peralta, per Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic. The deal is four-years, $16.5 million, though it has three opt-outs.

Peralta was arguably the best left-handed reliever still on the free agent market, and multiple outlets reported the Mets had interest in the former Yankee.

Original Post – Jan. 28 at 3:22 PM

According to Jon Heyman of the NY Post, the New York Mets are continuing their pursuit of left-handed relievers. One name he mentioned specifically in his post on Sunday is former New York Yankees relief pitcher Wandy Peralta. Peralta was first connected to the Mets by Joel Sherman of the NY Post earlier in the month.

This is all coming after the Mets reportedly came to an agreement with right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino to a one-year deal on Saturday. The Mets’ bullpen is taking shape by the day and it would greatly benefit from one more addition.

As it stands, the group consists of Edwin Díaz, Brooks Raley, Ottavino, Drew Smith, Michael Tonkin, Jorge López, Sean Reid-Foley, and Austin Adams. Other depth options consist of Phil Bickford, Grant Hartwig, Josh Walker, Cole Sulser, Nate Lavender, and Paul Gervase, among others. The only left-handed arm of the group that can be considered a lock for Opening Day is Raley, so an addition of a southpaw, specifically, makes a lot of sense.

Wandy Peralta, 32 years old, has spent the last three seasons with the Yankees. In each year, he has posted an ERA below 3.00 and over this time his cumulative ERA sits at 2.82. Peralta relies on a hard sinker (averaged 95.9 mph in 2023) as well as a changeup and slider that both generate strong whiff rates. He predominantly generates a lot of soft contact on the ground, as his ground-ball rate has stayed constant at the league’s 94th percentile the last three seasons and hard-hit rate above the league’s 80th percentile. Additionally, after throwing 42 2/3 innings in 2021, he has thrown at least 54 or more the last two seasons.

Peralta does have some walk issues which has led to an xERA above 4.00 in 2021 and 2023. However, he has been able to get past those issues relatively clean the past few seasons as the sub-3.00 ERA indicates. His FIP of 5.05 in 2023 is also worth mentioning. However, bringing in Peralta, given his full body of work over the last three seasons, would give the Mets another established major-league, left-handed option behind Raley. It would also be an upgrade overall over several guys currently scheduled to be a part of the Mets’ bullpen in 2024 such as Tonkin, López, Reid-Foley, and Adams, among several others.

Other left-handed relievers that still are on the free market consist of Jake Diekman, Scott Alexander, Brad Hand, Joely Rodríguez, Aaron Loup, Richard Bleier, and Chasen Shreve. Of the group, Alexander (3.26 FIP in 2023) and Diekman (3.35 xERA in 2023) are the strongest bets.