Brewers must trade this outfielder to clear up roster logjam after signing Akil Baddoo

Thanks to the presence of postseason legend Jackson Chourio (right field) and breakout star Sal Frelick (center field), the Milwaukee Brewers have locked in starters at two of the three outfield positions for the foreseeable future.

Which is what makes the signing of Akil Baddoo all the more intriguing. The one-hit wonder was a rookie sensation with the Detroit Tigers back in 2021 and has played mostly left field in his career, though he's got a career 87 wRC+ and hasn't been an above-average contributor since his debut campaign.

His addition to the 40-man roster, by way of the major league contract he agreed to, now gives the Brewers nine outfielders among a full 40-man group, which is simply untenable for a team that prioritizes flexibility as much as Milwaukee does.

Outfielders on Milwaukee Brewers' 40-man roster
Jackson Chourio
Sal Frelick
Akil Baddoo
Isaac Collins
Blake Perkins
Garrett Mitchell
Christian Yelich
Brandon Lockridge
Steward Berroa

Throw Jake Bauers and Tyler Black into the mix, and that's 11 players on the 40-man roster who spent some time in the outfield in 2025. Now, likely, those two will primarily play first base, and Yelich will once again assume full-time DH duties, but that still leaves six players for one spot in left field.

This logjam simply needs to be cleared, especially with the Brewers needing actual impact bats and the 40-man roster at full capacity. Not to mention the fact that the team still needs a third catcher on the 40-man. Assuming Berroa and Lockridge aren't valuable enough to fetch anything of note in a trade, that leaves three outfielders whom the Crew can deal for help elsewhere on the roster: Isaac Collins, Blake Perkins, and Garrett Mitchell.

Isaac Collins could be the odd-man out among loaded Brewers outfield group

It's worth noting that Frelick, Yelich, Baddoo, and Mitchell are all left-handed hitters, which could incentivize the front office to part with the latter. However, just 27 years old, Mitchell has shown so much promise when healthy (career 114 wRC+) that trading him while his value is at its nadir just doesn't sit right. Who knows how he'll perform after the second major shoulder surgery of his career, but the Brewers should be willing to bet on his talent.

That leaves Perkins and Collins as the top two trade candidates, and it's really a toss-up which one could go.

Perkins, who is 29 and has four years of team control remaining, may seem like the answer at first glance, considering that he's a below-average hitter (career 85 wRC+) and gets by on excellent speed and defense. Collins, meanwhile, is a year younger, has an extra year of team control, and just posted a 122 wRC+ in an impressive rookie campaign in which he spent time at four different positions.

That being said, Collins succeeded with a lot of smoke and mirrors in 2025. His batted-ball data was unsightly (31st-percentile hard-hit rate and 17th-percentile barrel rate), and his expected wOBA (.319) was 25 points lower than his actual output (.344 wOBA). Selling high on his success would be prudent for a team that simply has too many outfielders at present.

Perkins' speed and defensive wit is so uniquely valuable to the Brewers' operation that no other team in the league would value him as much as Milwaukee does. If that means having to trade Collins' superior bat is the path forward, it just might be the path the Brewers' front office takes to solve their logjam of outfielders on the 40-man roster.