Guardians’ lack of outfield additions more magnified after weird Brewers-Royals trade

Over the weekend, the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers linked up for one of the oddest trades in recent memory, as Milwaukee sent outfielder Isaac Collins and right-handed pitcher Nick Mears to the Royals in exchange for left-handed reliever Ángel Zerpa.

It’s a trade with a lot to unpack. After having a cup of coffee with the Brewers in 2024, Collins officially broke out in 2025 and posted a 122wRC+ in 130 games in Milwaukee’s outfield, while Mears finally reached his potential in the Brewers’ bullpen after starting his career with five subpar seasons. 

Meanwhile, Zerpa had a 4.18 ERA in 64 2/3 innings with the Royals last season, and projects to be even better next season after some time working with the Brewers’ pitching gurus. 

But when it comes to the Guardians, the biggest factor of this trade is obviously Collins heading to Kansas City. The Royals made their intention known to upgrade their outfield this winter, and they’ve put their money where their mouth is over the past week thanks to their additions of Collins and former Guardian Lane Thomas. 

The Royals are upgrading their outfield while the Guardians are standing pat 

The trade is as out of left field as they come. While the Brewers were said to be listening to trade offers on their outfield help, Collins was productive last season, and, perhaps most importantly, is cheap. 

But the Brewers ended up using that production to nab Zerpa, who are open to using him as a starter. Though losing Zerpa to the National League could be classified as a bit of a win for the Guardians (his 1.18 ERA against the Guardians is his best against any opponent), Collins being in the division-long term cancels that out. 

While he only hit nine home runs last season, he slashed .263/.368/.411 despite only being in the 17th percentile in barrel rate and the 31st percentile in hard-hit rate. That lack of power is buoyed by a chase rate of 18.4% (98th percentile) and the 90th percentile in walk rate (12.9%) — he’s kind of like a great value Steven Kwan. 

Last year Royals outfielders combined for the second-worst batting average in baseball (.219), and are better than most of the in-house options they had to use last year. Thomas and Collins will work alongside Kyle Isbel (who led all Royals outfielders with a 1.6 bWAR) alongside rookie Jac Caglianone.

On the other side, the Guardians haven’t done anything to improve their outfield after finishing last year with a .223 batting average (fourth-worst in baseball). Although Cleveland has better internal outfield options compared to the Royals thanks to Chase DeLauter and George Valera, their lack of outfield additions is still a bit confusing. 

There’s still time for them to sign a B-tier free agent outfielder like Austin Hays or Harrison Bader, but they’ve reduced the amount of flexibility on their roster by filling up their 40-man roster with three low-leverage relievers. 

The Guardians needed to fix their bullpen after losing Jakob Junis to free agency and Emmanuel Clase to paid leave, but it’s fair to wonder if using all of their open roster spots on the bullpen was the right move.