BREAKING: Brewers Trade Isaac Collins, Nick Mears to Kansas City Royals, Acquire Lefty Angel Zerpa

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Brewers have traded Isaac Collins and right-handed reliever Nick Mears to the Kansas City Royals for lefty reliever Angel Zerpa, according to multiple reports. Robert Murray of FanSided had the first report, on Twitter.

Despite spending a month or so as a favorite for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, Collins became just an extra piece again by the end of the season. He's a switch-hitter with average athleticism and a good approach at the plate, but the Brewers have toolsier options at every position he can credibly play. Mears, who is out of options and didn't fit into the top half of the Brewers' bullpen hierarchy for 2026, was on the roster bubble even when the non-tender deadline passed last month.

Zerpa, 26, offers the chance to turn two players who were redundant on Milwaukee's loaded roster into one who can be more of a standout. He comes with three years of team control and (unlike Mears) can be optioned to the minor leagues for one more season. When he first came up as a starter, his dead-zone fastball held him back, but a move to the bullpen and a new emphasis on his sinker instead of a four-seamer have reinvented him as a very good ground-ball lefty. He also added a tick of velocity in 2024, and nearly that much again in 2025, such that he now averages nearly 97 miles per hour with that sinker. Mechanical adjustments lent his slider more depth this season and offer some swing-and-miss upside into which he has not yet fully tapped. 

Days after signing an outfielder (Akil Baddoo, who now becomes the de facto replacement for Collins at the edge of the outfield picture) and filling their 40-man roster, the Brewers freed up a spot anew, and converted a reliever without much hope of pitching in high leverage or the roster flexibility of being able to be sent to the minors into one who has both of those things.

That said, this deal will draw raised eyebrows from some. The Brewers gave up multiple seasons of Collins at a league-minimum salary and an affordable (if fungible) righty reliever to add more depth to a department of the roster where they already appear to be strong: left-handed relief. Zerpa joins Jared Koenig, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall as candidates for the southpaw slots in next year's bullpen—unless the team intends to let Ashby and Hall try once more to show they can hold up and succeed as starting pitchers. That, in turn, invites plenty of questions about the shifting odds of a Freddy Peralta trade.

Meanwhile, though Collins's run of success at the plate already showed signs of being a flash in the pan, replacing him with Baddoo for 2026 isn't the act of a confident contender making the most of their outfield options. Indeed, this deal (while sensible on its own, given the way it consolidates the roster and what Zerpa appears to be capable of as a setup man) feels like the first of a few moves in a coordinated maneuver. Could a Peralta trade net a higher caliber of outfielder than Collins? Could it pave the way for a return to the rotation by Ashby, leaving the team in need of a lefty reliever? Do the Brewers have their eye on a free-agent outfielder who would have supplanted Collins anyway, and like that player better than any of the remaining options they had to improve their lefty relief depth via free agency?

For a small trade, this one feels momentous. Whether that's true will depend on what the team does next.

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[Hokius]

Did Mears already sign an offer for 2026 or is it still to be negotiated? I can't find that info anywhere.

I hope y'all enjoy the heck out of Zerpa, we were pretty well done with him but I'd love for him to finally figure out how to get whiffs even if its for another team.

[Sugarrayray]

Like Matt said, this could be a string of larger moves, and this lefty seems to have a lot of potential…..however Mears was better than Zerpa last year and Collins is far better than Badoo, and much more versatile besides. People really wrote him off after one bad month last year. Badoo has had several bad years. Having an option year (Zerpa) is nice, but it still seems like they have potentially downgraded two players on their roster.

 

Furthermore, Ashby has no business being in the rotation and the Brewers need to leave well enough alone. He has turned into an ace reliever and does not have the health/ability/mentality to be a starter. His career starter reliever splits are downright staggering. On line with a Wade Davis or someone of the sort.

I have come to trust Arnold more than Stearns even, and I was down on the Priester trade initially last year too, but I struggle to see how our roster has improved, if not gone in the opposite direction.

 

Edit: That ground ball rate IS sexy.

[Harold Hutchison]

Isaac Collins is a bigger loss than he appears. Ideally, he was the guy who could give Durham, Turang, Frelick, Chourio, and whoever mans center field days off. He keeps the toolsier/talented players fresh.

[Sugarrayray]

17 minutes ago, Harold Hutchison said:

Isaac Collins is a bigger loss than he appears. Ideally, he was the guy who could give Durham, Turang, Frelick, Chourio, and whoever mans center field days off. He keeps the toolsier/talented players fresh.

Ray Durham is back with the Crew!?!

[biedergb]

Very underwhelming. Mears was the key piece in the Blalock/Y. Herrera trade. So now it is Herrera for Zerpa essentially.

Mears was meh in 2024 and awesome in 2025, maybe they worried about a Bryan Hudson like regression and not being able to  move him at all.

I love Collins, but agree he is not likely a long term piece - he will be versatile and will have some very good seasons but unlikely to have sustained success if I were to guess given he was an older rookie and picked up in the minor league rule 5 draft. Maybe the FO sees it as a "sell high" but again the return is just underwhelming.

If I heard Berroa or Lockridge for a middling reliever I'd be OK. But two guys with value for a potentially OK LHP reliever. Not overly impressed.

But hey, we have Akil Baddoo which now rivals Angel Zerpa as the coolest names in the roster so there is that motivation - trade away the boring names and bring in exotic names....

[Brock Beauchamp]

28 minutes ago, biedergb said:

But hey, we have Akil Baddoo which now rivals Angel Zerpa as the coolest names in the roster so there is that motivation - trade away the boring names and bring in exotic names....

Brewers running this offseason based on names and vibes.

[jay87shot]

This feels like selling low on Mears and Collins. If it was just Collins for Zerpa I would think we got had. Add in Mears and I am scratching my head. Collins was worth like 2.5 WAR last year and has 5 years control. Zerpa has 3 year control and has never put it together. I would almost guarantee that we add a cutter and he ends up very similar to Koenig but that is speculative. Even if we think he regresses we are selling Collins at what seems like his value before last season started.

Zerpa clearly is someone the front office thinks our pitching staff can get to the next level. However like I said he doesn't seem much different than Koenig. I dont dislike Zerpa at all, it just seems like a big overpay for an average reliever.

I would guarantee that this means that we have a trade with either Freddy or Megill with an OF lined up.

[Harold Hutchison]

2 hours ago, Sugarrayray said:

Ray Durham is back with the Crew!?!

Meant Durbin.

[Harold Hutchison]

3 hours ago, Sugarrayray said:

Like Matt said, this could be a string of larger moves, and this lefty seems to have a lot of potential…..however Mears was better than Zerpa last year and Collins is far better than Badoo, and much more versatile besides. People really wrote him off after one bad month last year. Badoo has had several bad years. Having an option year (Zerpa) is nice, but it still seems like they have potentially downgraded two players on their roster.

 

Furthermore, Ashby has no business being in the rotation and the Brewers need to leave well enough alone. He has turned into an ace reliever and does not have the health/ability/mentality to be a starter. His career starter reliever splits are downright staggering. On line with a Wade Davis or someone of the sort.

I have come to trust Arnold more than Stearns even, and I was down on the Priester trade initially last year too, but I struggle to see how our roster has improved, if not gone in the opposite direction.

 

Edit: That ground ball rate IS sexy.

Ashby's too expensive for the Crew if he's a reliever, even an ace reliever.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Feel like the Brewers should have gotten at least an additional piece back (lottery ticket).  But hard to argue with their success in trades recently.

[Sugarrayray]

6 hours ago, Harold Hutchison said:

Ashby's too expensive for the Crew if he's a reliever, even an ace reliever.

Well then I guess they need to trade him? He is not capable of being a starting pitcher in the big leagues, for myriad reasons.

[Brewersfan1]

12 hours ago, biedergb said:

Very underwhelming. Mears was the key piece in the Blalock/Y. Herrera trade. So now it is Herrera for Zerpa essentially.

Mears was meh in 2024 and awesome in 2025, maybe they worried about a Bryan Hudson like regression and not being able to  move him at all.

I love Collins, but agree he is not likely a long term piece - he will be versatile and will have some very good seasons but unlikely to have sustained success if I were to guess given he was an older rookie and picked up in the minor league rule 5 draft. Maybe the FO sees it as a "sell high" but again the return is just underwhelming.

If I heard Berroa or Lockridge for a middling reliever I'd be OK. But two guys with value for a potentially OK LHP reliever. Not overly impressed.

But hey, we have Akil Baddoo which now rivals Angel Zerpa as the coolest names in the roster so there is that motivation - trade away the boring names and bring in exotic names....

They have value to you. Unfortunately, it seems you have overvalued them compared to other major league organizations. 

[Brewersfan1]

The Brewers have an incredible track record on these types of trades/pick ups and fans still questioning it is incredibly strange. Collins was a fun story, but a 27 year old rookie scooped in the rule 5 minor league draft and was unplayable to end the year probably has next to no trade value to other organizations. He lost any trade value he had in August and September. Mears has no options, so he has to fill a major league roster spot. The Brewers have better options in the bullpen, simple as that. The Brewers aren’t doing other organizations favors. This is what Collins/Mears value is to them. 

[Brewersfan1]

13 hours ago, Harold Hutchison said:

Isaac Collins is a bigger loss than he appears. Ideally, he was the guy who could give Durham, Turang, Frelick, Chourio, and whoever mans center field days off. He keeps the toolsier/talented players fresh.

Unless Mitchell finally decides to stay healthy then Collins isn’t even on the ML roster. Long shot he is healthy, sure, but there are only so many roster spots.

[Trail]

I don't like moving Collins, because he literally can play almost any position on the diamond in a pinch.  However we have Garrett Mitchell coming back (stops and says a short prayer) and he's going to eat a lot of at-bats.  I think we have to remember that.  I also believe that, unless there's a major trade, Bauers is going to see more AB's playing in left than we realize in order to supply some needed power.  I also think they don't want to squeeze out Perkins.  If Zerpa is truly a "leverage" guy, I guess this makes sense...but I'd like to have seen a lower-level prospect added in.  

[Trail]

10 hours ago, Harold Hutchison said:

Ashby's too expensive for the Crew if he's a reliever, even an ace reliever.

That money is spent.  He is who he is...and luckily he's not a bust, but a fantastic reliever who can carry a very heavy load when needed.  

[Outlander]

Ashby's money isn't spent, it is a future commitment that can be passed on to another team. If the Brewers were really trying to shed salary he would be near the top.

[biedergb]

2 hours ago, Brewersfan1 said:

They have value to you. Unfortunately, it seems you have overvalued them compared to other major league organizations. 

Not entirely as various projections have Collins as a reasonable contributor - and just for example, in the most recent article I read which was from The Athletic where Keith Law (yes we can all agree to disagree with him, but he is still a MLB writer and has no real stand for KC even if he doesn't regard MIL very highly) stated "The Royals clearly benefit from this trade — Collins is easily a two-win upgrade over Waters, and Mears for Zerpa might be a wash."

So I may overvalue Mears and Collins, but others may see the value as well. Obviously the Brewers brass doesn't value them as much, or really over-values Zerpa.

Either way, the team mostly makes good decisions, but will make bad decision as any team will do (still think Areinamo was a way-to-high pay for 1-2 months of Jansen; and also thought Quintana was a lotto ticket we didn't need to send in order to make Cortes go away and add Lochridge who still is a questionable player in this crowded OF). 

[wntrtxn21]

I'm hoping the Brewers see something in Zerpa that he didn't display with the Royals. Otherwise this is extremely underwhelming! Zerpa looks to be worse than DL Hall and just another long reliever. On the surface this makes the Brewers worse. Mears had more value and Collins was a versatile bench piece. Trading BOTH guys for Zerpa seems ridiculous. 

[Brewersfan1]

26 minutes ago, biedergb said:

Not entirely as various projections have Collins as a reasonable contributor - and just for example, in the most recent article I read which was from The Athletic where Keith Law (yes we can all agree to disagree with him, but he is still a MLB writer and has no real stand for KC even if he doesn't regard MIL very highly) stated "The Royals clearly benefit from this trade — Collins is easily a two-win upgrade over Waters, and Mears for Zerpa might be a wash."

So I may overvalue Mears and Collins, but others may see the value as well. Obviously the Brewers brass doesn't value them as much, or really over-values Zerpa.

Either way, the team mostly makes good decisions, but will make bad decision as any team will do (still think Areinamo was a way-to-high pay for 1-2 months of Jansen; and also thought Quintana was a lotto ticket we didn't need to send in order to make Cortes go away and add Lochridge who still is a questionable player in this crowded OF). 

The thing is writers don’t matter. Collins was a minor league rule 5 draft pick and traded for nothing, according to a lot of Brewers fans. Sooooo it seems organizations don’t have the same value on him as writers/fans. He is an awesome story and I hope he helps the Royals, I liked him, but he doesn’t offer a ton for the Brewers. They have a ton of replacements for him - Mitchell (hopefully he can FINALLY stay healthy, if he does Collins isn’t on the roster anyway), Abdoo, Lockridge, Black….. - and only so many roster spots. Before you knock all of them, you had no clue who Collins was just a year ago. Let one of them break out in a similar fashion! Brewers have an incredible track record of finding and fixing/adjusting pitchers like Zerpa. Let them work!

[Brewersfan1]

18 minutes ago, wntrtxn21 said:

I'm hoping the Brewers see something in Zerpa that he didn't display with the Royals. Otherwise this is extremely underwhelming! Zerpa looks to be worse than DL Hall and just another long reliever. On the surface this makes the Brewers worse. Mears had more value and Collins was a versatile bench piece. Trading BOTH guys for Zerpa seems ridiculous. 

Read Jack Sterns article on him and it gives a glimpse into what the Brewers probably see. Knocking the Brewers for what they do best is something a lot of Brewers fans need to stop doing. You had no clue who Collins was a year ago. I’m sure the Brewers helped with where he is now. They found Mears in similar fashion as this trade. Neither had defined roles on the 2026 Brewers roster, Zerpa does. Otherwise he’ll be in AAA getting it perfected until his time comes.

[biedergb]

18 minutes ago, Brewersfan1 said:

He is an awesome story and I hope he helps the Royals, I liked him, but he doesn’t offer a ton for the Brewers. They have a ton of replacements for him - Mitchell

completely agree. but like the trades I mentioned (Areinamo and Quintana) just because we are trading out of a strength doesn't mean we have to trade the player just to trade them, and this is also more being underwhelmed by Zerpa who is not a strike out pitcher, and I would have said Mears for Zerpa with a marginal prospect would have been better (or Berroa or Lochridge). Anyway, we will see.  I would have thought a controlled player, who got ROY votes would be worth more in value. 

[sveumrules]

18 minutes ago, wntrtxn21 said:

Zerpa looks to be worse than DL Hall

How so?

Zerpa has been more available (118 IP to 81 IP last two years) than Hall has.

Their strikeout rates (92 K%+ vs 91 K%+) and home run suppression (84 HR9+ vs 78 HR9+) have been about the same, but Zerpa walks waaay fewer batters (95 BB%+ vs 131 BB%+) than Hall does.

Put it all together an DL has been worse than average across the board at 104 ERA- | 103 FIP- | 113 FIP- over these last two years, where Angel has been better than average across the board at 96 ERA- | 95 FIP- | 87 xFIP- these last two years.

The only area DL really has any kind of advantage is that he allowed a 94 BABIP+ over the last two years compared to a 113 BABIP+ for Angel.

If the Brewers were able to coax that kind of BABIP suppression out of Hall and his underwhelming array of pitches (91 Stuff+ last two years), they likely believe they can do all that & maybe even more with Zerpa and his more impressive arsenal (114 Stuff+ last two years) that has graded out in the same neighborhood as guys like Ashby (118 Stuff+) and Uribe (117 Stuff+).

[Brewersfan1]

6 minutes ago, biedergb said:

completely agree. but like the trades I mentioned (Areinamo and Quintana) just because we are trading out of a strength doesn't mean we have to trade the player just to trade them, and this is also more being underwhelmed by Zerpa who is not a strike out pitcher, and I would have said Mears for Zerpa with a marginal prospect would have been better (or Berroa or Lochridge). Anyway, we will see.  I would have thought a controlled player, who got ROY votes would be worth more in value. 

Read Jack Sterns article on Zerpa, you’ll be happier about the trade. Areinamo is a redundant prospect who would have never saw the Brewers roster. Collins played well, but he is a marginal player. If Mitchell is healthy, he’s on the roster and Collins isn’t. Collins is 27 and lost all of his value in the last two months on defense and offense. He may have regressed back to the norm and they got everything they could out of him. On to the next fun story!