Ben Peoples

Scout’s note

The early returns in Texas are tidy: a 2.51 ERA across 14.1 innings with eight strikeouts since Peoples debuted in July. His stuff grade of 0.64 ranks in the 94th percentile of the 756 AAA arms we track — median 0.05 — which tells you the arm is real. A 22nd-round pick out of Columbia, Tennessee, he is 25, bats left, throws right. The grade earns a watchlist, not a roster spot.

Current signals

The read: Peoples's stuff grade of 0.64 ranks in the 94th percentile of the 767 AAA arms we track (median 0.05). Stuff is not command — watchlist, not a call — but stuff comes first.

Stuff-lite

0.636

Pitches

639

Age

25

A market fact, not an engine read: what a club decided about him, on the season before this one. Figures from Cot’s, as of August 25, 2026.

2026 salary

$0.19Mest

Tax hit

$0.19M

Service time

0 yr 0 d

Options left

3 / 3

Regime read from his service time, not from the sheet — it does not project him past this season. Super Two eligibility is the top 22% of a class and can move this line in a way service time alone cannot see.

Cash and the tax hit are two different rulebooks and are never subtracted from one another — see the payroll board for his club, Texas Rangers.

A second set of books

The same contract, read by MLB Spreadsheets (Ethan Hullihen), as of August 20, 2026. We keep two sources on this because one source cannot check itself.

Tax AAV

$0.78M

Guaranteed

$0.78M

Term

1 yr

His class

Pre-Arb

The tax AAV above is his number under the CBA’s own rulebook, not the average we work out from Cot’s total. On a contract with deferred money the two come apart on purpose — and neither is subtracted from the other.

Collect Ben Peoples

If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:

High-end listings ($75+) →

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Not financial advice. We take positions only after publication — never before. Misses stay on the record.

The Bureau on Ben Peoples

The scouting press, in their own words