Brewers Sign Outfielder Akil Baddoo to Major-League Deal

[Jack Stern]

Image courtesy of © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Brewers agreed on Thursday to sign outfielder Akil Baddoo to a major-league deal.

The 27-year-old owns a career .224/.305/.369 line (87 wRC+) across parts of five seasons with the Detroit Tigers. His most successful big-league stint was his rookie campaign, in which he hit .259/.330/.436 (108 wRC+) after the Tigers selected him in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. Swing-and-miss issues and a lack of hard contact started catching up to him after that, though, and he has since bounced on and off Detroit's roster.

Baddoo spent most of 2025 with Triple-A Toledo, pairing a .385 on-base percentage with 15 home runs for a 136 wRC+. That wasn't enough to secure a more stable future in a talented Tigers' outfield, so they outrighted him off their 40-man roster in June, and he elected minor-league free agency at the end of the season.

In Milwaukee, he'll join an outfield with a plethora of left-handed outfield options, including Sal Frelick, Jake Bauers, Garrett Mitchell, Tyler Black, and switch-hitters Isaac Collins, Blake Perkins, and Steward Berroa. There's some uncertainty throughout that group, but Baddoo falls into the same boat. Barring injuries or underperformance, that could be a tough roster to make out of spring training.

While Baddoo's deal is reportedly a big-league contract, he does have one option year remaining. At first glance, he looks like minor-league depth with some upside, should the Brewers need to change things up on the grass during the season.

Because the Brewers' 40-man roster entered Thursday at 39 players, no corresponding move is necessary to add Baddoo. The roster is now full.

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[Brock Beauchamp]

Huh. I don't know how I feel about this, I suppose it's a fine pickup if that option is triggered immediately, and he is used as depth.

[Ro Mueller]

Maybe we’ve already DFA’d another outfielder, but not made it public yet.

[wallus]

6 minutes ago, Ro Mueller said:

Maybe we’ve already DFA’d another outfielder, but not made it public yet.

Don't need to, we had an open spot on the 40 man

[Joseph Zarr]

I guess the only question I have is:

But how Baddoo is his MLB output, reallllly?

[Jim French Stepstool]

26 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I guess the only question I have is:

But how Baddoo is his MLB output, reallllly?

Where's the 'groan' emoji when you need it?😜.

As for Baddoo, I'm fine with him as organizational depth in the OF. I think I'd be a little more fine if he was a RHH.

[jay87shot]

I would guess Berroa is DFA'd if/when we need more 40 man roster spots. My guess is Baddoo is this years Daz Cameron. Baddoo is a solid athlete with some upside, solid depth.

[nathanj42]

Agree with a lot of the other comments, that this is surprising. Definitely need OF depth at AAA, but not sure if they need to tie that depth to a 40-man spot. He seems closer to true AAA player than an AAAA player, IMO

[Jason Wang]

4 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I guess the only question I have is:

But how Baddoo is his MLB output, reallllly?

rumor has it matt arnold executed this deal purely so this comment could be made on brewerfanatic.com 

[BlazingGunz]

Over a quarter of the 40 man is guys that spend time in the outfield (I count 11).   Something’s gotta give there at some point with DFA or trade.  

[Brian]

Looks pretty jacked 😁 But how is Baddoo MLB output, really? Maybe another Anderw Vaughn in the rough find but with wheels.   https://www.milb.com/player/akil-baddoo-668731 

[Jake McKibbin]

 

[Michael Trzinski]

15 hours ago, jay87shot said:

I would guess Berroa is DFA'd if/when we need more 40 man roster spots. My guess is Baddoo is this years Daz Cameron. Baddoo is a solid athlete with some upside, solid depth.

Plus, he's got a cool name! 😎

[Brian]

Minnesota Twins choose Akil Baddoo second round. 

https://www.mlb.com/news/twins-draft-akil-baddoo-with-74th-overall-pick-c183212822