Blake Perkins’ defense isn’t enough to justify Brewers handing him a 2025 roster spot

The Milwaukee Brewers have a number of roster questions they will have to answer this coming offseason. In addition to the extremely likely departure of Willy Adames in free agency as well as the increasingly strong possibility that the Brewers will trade Devin Williams, Milwaukee also has to address their starting rotation with Wade Miley and Frankie Montas on their way out of town. However, one roster decision that deserves more consideration regards the future of Blake Perkins.

For some time now, the Brewers have been enamored with Perkins and some of that is understandable. In a lot of ways, Perkins fits the Brewers' model to a T as he is a defensive wizard that can also run the bases well. For a team that needs to maximize value at each roster spot given their lack of spending, Perkins has given Milwaukee exactly what they wanted out of him in center field.

The problem is that the Brewers should want and definitely do need more out of Perkins' roster spot and that is where things get a bit sticky.

The Brewers just need more out of center field than Blake Perkins' defense

In the spirit of honesty, the likelihood that Milwaukee would move on from Perkins in 2025 is very small. Manager Pat Murphy loves having him play center every day and there isn't much about his profile as a big leaguer that is immediately disqualifying. Perkins' offensive production has been lacking to be sure, but he also just turned in another Gold Glove caliber defensive season which makes him an appealing everyday option in a vacuum for a team on a budget.

The problem with Perkins is that playing him every day creates some offensive challenges for the Brewers going forward. After posting an 89 wRC+ in 2023, his 83 wRC+ this past season actually represented a regression in Perkins' bat despite an over 20 point increase in his batting average (to a very modest .240). Perkins simply doesn't impact the ball enough as his batted ball metrics are mostly below average or worse. Combine that with a reduction in his walk rate this past season and you have a guy that can and often does weigh the offense down.

The goal for any club is to field the best team possible every day and for the Brewers, there are financial headwinds they do have to navigate. They aren't going to go out and sign Juan Soto and then just go with the mashiest of outfields. However, trading or even optioning Perkins, who has only given Milwaukee just 2.6 fWAR combined the last two seasons when looking at the big picture, in exchange for more playing time in center for guys with more offensive upside like Garrett Mitchell or even Jackson Chourio could make a lot of sense especially if a prospective trade is lucrative enough.

Yes, there would be a modest defensive drop-off and the Brewers actually doing so is speculative at best, but that doesn't make it an idea not worth considering.

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