The Brewers are exploring trades involving their depth outfielders, report Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic. The report lists Isaac Collins and Blake Perkins as the two likeliest candidates to move.
Jackson Chourio certainly isn’t going anywhere. Christian Yelich is owed $84.5MM over the next three seasons (including a 2029 option buyout), so they’re unlikely to line up any kind of trade there. There’d be significant interest in Sal Frelick, but Milwaukee is unlikely to move him when he’s under club control for another four seasons. Frelick and Chourio should have two outfield spots secure, while Yelich is ticketed for primary DH work with occasional left field playing time.
That leaves one opening for a handful of players. Collins, Perkins and former first-round pick Garrett Mitchell would battle for playing time if they’re all on the roster. The Brewers have speedster Brandon Lockridge as a fifth outfielder and took a flier on Akil Baddoo on a split contract. They all have minor league options, so it’s not necessary to force a trade. There’s enough depth that they’re willing to move someone for help elsewhere on the roster. Rosenthal and Sammon write that Milwaukee could target a relief pitcher with minor league options who’d provide additional flexibility for a team that leans heavily on its bullpen.
Collins is coming off a breakout season in which he finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. The switch-hitting Collins batted .263/.368/.411 across 441 trips to the plate. He hit 22 doubles, three triples, and nine home runs. Collins stole 16 bases and walked at a 13% clip. He was Milwaukee’s primary left fielder and graded as a solid defender in a little over 800 innings.
That season was worth between two and three wins above replacement. Collins is under club control for five seasons and won’t qualify for arbitration for two more years. It’s fair to wonder whether he’ll be able to repeat that kind of season. Collins is already 28 and didn’t have particularly strong batted ball metrics. It’s a bit of a tweener profile since he’s not really an option to play center field. Yet the disciplined approach, contact skills, and solid glove in the corner should provide a reasonably high floor.
Perkins, 29, is a prototypical fourth outfielder. He’s a switch-hitter who has a middling .232/.314/.339 batting line in 773 career plate appearances. Perkins runs well and plays a plus center field. He also takes a lot of pitches and works a decent number of walks, albeit with more swing-and-miss than Collins has to his game. Perkins fell a little shy of the Super Two cutoff and will play next season for around the league minimum. He’ll be eligible for arbitration in 2027 and is under club control for four seasons.
Collins is probably the better all-around player, yet Perkins might hold broader appeal on the trade market. There are plenty of teams in need of center fielders and few options available in free agency. It’s unlikely many clubs would view Perkins as a regular, but teams like the Guardians, Angels and Giants should look for defensive upgrades up the middle.
A lot could depend on how the Brewers feel about Mitchell. He’s going into his age-27 season and still unproven at the MLB level. Mitchell is a fantastic athlete with plus speed, power and arm strength. He has the physical tools to be an impact center fielder. There’s also significant hit tool and health risk. Mitchell has punched out in more than a third of his 443 career plate appearances. He has gone on the 60-day injured list in three consecutive seasons: left shoulder surgery in 2023, a broken hand in ’24, an oblique strain and renewed shoulder pain this year. He underwent a second shoulder surgery in June and missed the rest of the season.
Mitchell is expected to be ready for Spring Training. If the Brewers remain confident that he’s their long-term answer in center field, that’d push Frelick and Chourio into the corners. Collins would make sense as the odd man out in that case because he’s stretched in center (though he has plenty of minor league second/third base experience). If they have more trepidation about Mitchell, they could pencil Frelick in as the center fielder with Collins back in left. That’d leave Mitchell and Perkins competing for playing time as the fourth outfielder with the latter potentially on the trade block.
Chat GPT, my trained up version anyway, had Frelick as the Dodgers #1 trade target this off-season
It’s still not clear what the Dodgers are going to do with CF, but if they stick with Edman/Pages, Perkins seems like an upgrade over Siani as a backup. The Dodgers have a fleet of young relievers if that’s what the Brewers want, as suggested in the article.
The Dodgers will, almost certainly, IMO, get a starting OFer somewhere
They did just claim Michael Siani from the Braves, so there’s that. Unless the Dodgers clear some space, there isn’t necessarily room as they already have
Ohtani
Betts
Freeman
Smith
Muncy
Rojas
Pages
Edman
T. Hernandez
Rushing
Kim
Call
That’s 12 out of 13 hitters and that doesn’t even include the inevitable Kike Hernandez resigning
They are a starting OF short
Unless it’s Call
Or Edman
I see
C Smith
IF Freeman, ???, Muncy, Betts
OF Pages, Two, ???
SO: Ohtani
BN: Rushing, Edman, Rojas, Kiké
So, still need an OF and IF
Seriously, why in hell would the Brewers EVER want to help the Dodgers?
GSP
“why in hell would the Brewers EVER want to help the Dodgers?”.
They wouldn’t
They would want to help themselves
Like every trade
Ever
Do you think teams make trades to help the OTHER team?
Helping the Dodgers in ANY way, is 180 degrees against where we are these days as a franchise.
They stand squarely in our way, and until there’s a cap, it’s not to our advantage to strengthen them.
It’s like Captain Ahab feeding Moby Dick.
So, you think the Brewers should take a deal they think is worse for them to avoid “helping” the Dodgers?
Who is Moby?
I think the Dodgers need someone who is more established and consistent to round out the outfield. Because as good of a season as Pages had, he was terrible in the postseason.
They need a buffer in case it happens again. I doubt it will, but you have to account for the possibility if you’re the Dodgers.
ADF
You read it here first, or maybe somewhere else first, or figured it out for yourself first
Expect regression from Pages next year.
FG projects him for like a 109 wRC+. And his xWOBA last year was right around league average.
I wasn’t as impressed by him as many were. His mental game isn’t nearly as strong as his talent at the moment.
He makes mistakes on the base paths, but has shown some improvement.
He has a great arm in the outfield, but at times tried to show it off and didn’t make the right play. Now that he’s getting recognition for his throwing, it’s like he’s trying too hard to make it a thing.
At bat when he’s confident, he’s a beast. But he fluctuated between lack of confidence and overconfidence the entire season. Which caused inconsistency that doesn’t show in end of season numbers.
In the outfield, he doesn’t always get a good jump, takes “interesting” routes at times, and isn’t as polished as you would expect.
But he’s young, willing to learn and improve, and definitely tries hard. If he can get out of his own way, he’ll be solid.
So… Yet again nothing that’ll move the needle
Right…what depth ? They have 4 outfielders covering 3 spots plus DH
Frelick, chourio, Collins, Perkins, Mitchell. Plus Yelich as the DH. Frelick would net the biggest return (not including chourio) but they’d be foolish to trade him. I think what C57 was referring to is yea you could trade one of the other 3 but is the return gonna be big enough where the needle moves that much closer to a WS berth? Probably not
I could do a Collins/Yoho/Ortiz trade for CJ Abrams! Not enough? Just imagine CJ at SS in that lineup.
But he’s a terrible SS and the Brewers whole thing is based on speed and defense. Abrams would through a big wrench into that.
The Royals are welcome to overpay for Frelick. They have my permission.
would you take James MacArthur?
Book ’em Dano!
No, no they wouldn’t…
I wouldn’t. Give Milwaukee Mac, Schieber, Mitchell & Kudna, & Kolek.
There’s Stearns 1st BIG trade Peralta, Megill and Collins Senga plus $15 mil, Santucci, Mauricio and Ewing.
Sign Bellinger(1b) and Bregman(3b).
Trade Sproat, Baty, Suero and Peterson to Detroit for Skubal.
Skubal, Peralta, McLean, Manaea and Scott with Tong starting in AAA and Holmes moves to the BP
Lindor, Semien, Soto, Bregman, Bellinger, Vientos DH, Collins LF, Alvarez and Benge CF
If you’re gonna dream…dream big.
Brewers and tigers fart into the phone before they hang up.
At the very least, in their general direction.
Also, maybe take the Yankees temperature, see what it would take to get Judge. Check in with the Dodgers as well for the asking price on Ohtani. Semien is fine, but what if he was more of a bench player. Go get Bobby Witt Jr. from the Royals and pair him with Lindor up the middle. They can take turns playing 2nd/ss.
Alvarez was really solid at catcher, but maybe pair him with second great catcher to really add some zip to the lineup. I’m sure Raleigh from Seattle could be picked up for the right price.
I think Bobby Witt JR. has a no trade clause, keep dreaming 🙄
The above was sarcasm. I assumed it was obvious. None of those players are getting traded.
Canu- I think you’re onto something here. Though I’m disappointed you didn’t get a guy called Paul. Yes, him and I are on a first name basis.
You’re right of course. Skenes, Skubal, and heck, go grab Crochet from Boston too.
The Mets would finally have a punchers chance of getting the last wild card.
If Mets substituted Benge in lieu of scrappy Ewing and old news Mauricio for your proposal, the Brewers would do it. The FO Stearns left behind in Milw is smarter and doesn’t miss him even a little.
Matt Arnold hires a guy to stand outside of Stearns’ house and laugh at him 24 hours a day for that proposal. Who you think youre fooling?
Ah yes my favorite trade proposal:
Please give us all your best players for the guys that failed/we don’t like anymore. Thanks!
Well they just got Polanco so
I wonder if Yelich is available and what a trade package would look like? His defense isn’t very good but is he passable in LF? His bat was pretty good last year but he’s been inconsistent over the last 5 years. Can he be had for a lesser package than usual because Milwaukee may not want to be in the hook for the next 4 years? I wouldn’t offer Dominguez, any mlb pitching nor prospects Rodriguez, Lagrange, Lombard or Kilby.
I was thinking this same thing, but he does carry a lot of injury risk with his back. A lesser package depends on the money NY is willing to accept. If money is an issue for us it might take more significant prospects for Milwaukee to send cash to help pay him down.
He was nearly 1/4 of the payroll last season, have to assume they’d be Very open to moving him
The Brewers would love to unload the contract, its a no trade clause though.
I dont think l anyone would trade fir Yelich in hopes he’d fill an everyday OF role. With his back he should be primarily a DH in hopes of keeping his bat in lineup.
Yeah that’s what I thought and Yankees already have DH locked.
Mar 6, 2020 – Milwaukee Brewers: 9-year, $215M extension (2020–2028), provided a mutual option for 2029. He has 3 years under contract. 4.5 million per year is paid down the road. So he is around 22 million per year, with a no trade contract. He will have to be paid to waive it.
Yelich has no trade right. The Dodgers are likely the only team he’d waive those rights for. I honestly think he has no intentions waiving his rights leaving Milw.
He’s definitely passable in left, but at his age and with his back issues and all is it reasonable to expect him to run around out there and stay healthy…. Probably not because it’s been a few years now since he’s seemed able to do that.
Yelich could play in the of more consistently but is an injury risk playing a lot there. Also, he has a NTC and is a Cali guy so I hesitate to think he’d waive that at this point in his career to play AL East baseball.
@jswag
He’s spent his entire career away from the west coast. So you think that would matter where he spent the last few years of his career?
Im not trying to be a homer as a brewer fan in saying this (but it’ll come off that way probably). Yelich loves Milwaukee and more particularly this organization. He has a chance to win every year of the next five years (as he would in New York). I personally don’t see him going really anywhere with his NTC, though I think California would make him think about it.
I’ll take Isaac Collins Brewers can have James MacArthur
My first instinct would be to say “nah”, but that Brewer pitching lab and Chris Hook could probably fix him
You mean a 29-year-old with a 4.92 ERA? Will Collins be enough? We can throw in Chourio and William Contreras! The Brewers MUST get James McArthur at all costs!
Low bar for what I would call depth. LOL
Isaac Collins would be a good fit for Cleveland.
“Anyone want a 1 WAR outfielder? Buy one get one free!”
Why I was so confused with the Baddoo deal, how many AAAA OFers do they want?
No harm in looking for a lottery ticket in return for Perkins, Lockridge or Mitchell but Collins is the only one that should be starting anywhere
Phillies fan here and the more I read stuff like this, and see Bader trying to entice a third year, the more I settle on Crawford, Marsh and even the occasional Rojas in center. We still need a quality left or right fielder.
I’m not crazy about the idea of trading Collins or Perkins, especially just for a “relief pitcher with minor league options.” Chances are they will need that depth, like they did last season, and it’s a big drop off from them to guys like Lockridge and Baddoo.
Collins had a .368 OBP and 2.1 WAR in part time duty last season, so with four more years of control I would think he’d be worth more than a AAAA relief pitcher. Perkins is probably worth more to the Brewers than he is to other teams.
I wouldn’t be entirely opposed to them kicking the tires on a Frelick trade, especially if it could bring back an infielder with some pop or a mid-rotation starter with multiple years of control.
You know…if they were to pair Yelich with Peralta they’d probably be able to clear that contract
Orioles would be happy to pick up a 4th outfielder to play a legitimate center field.
Mitchell for Ben Joyce. Equal risk. Equal upside.
Milwaukee training outfielders? The Royals should be calling
Problem is that OF “depth” is three late 20’s roster fodder, not players teams would actually give up something of value to acquire.
That said, perkins or Mitchell make sense for the Angels glaring hole in CF. Collins could be a 4th Outfielder on several teams, a starter on a very few. I guess we’ll see if any of them are moved before the roster crunching comes
The only OF I’d expect traded is Perkins. Stud defense in CF. Collins if ability to play 2b/3b should make Monesterio available in trade. Mitchell is a lost cause. I’d guess negative trade value atm. He could catapult his trade value with playing time healthy. Frelick seems to good atm for Milw to trade. He’d have to be in top 5 Brewers list of not trading. Miz-Chourio-Turang-Made-Frelick.
@Ezpkns34
Don’t be confused about the Baddoo signing. The Brewers have a “quota.” Perkins and/or Collins along with Peralta will probably be the next Brewers shipped out of town. Count on it. Perkins is a Gold Glove CF and might be better offensively if he played everyday or a more steady basis instead of once or twice a week.
I say trade Frelick (for a bigger return) who’s overrated as on OF despite the Gold Glove in ’24 imo. But, that won’t happen. He’s another one of Pat and Arnold’s guys.
Trade Mitchell to NYM for Vientos (at 1B) or see if Yelich can handle 1B for MKE?