Brewers to sign outfielder Akil Baddoo to major league deal

The Brewers have made their first major league move in the 2026 free agent market.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Brewers are signing outfielder Akil Baddoo to a major league deal. The major league nature of the deal is somewhat of a surprise, given that Baddoo spent almost all of last season in the minors.

Baddoo, 27, was a Twins second-round pick out of high school in 2016 and moved to Detroit in the December 2020 Rule 5 draft. That first season in Detroit went quite well: Across 124 games, Baddoo hit .259/.330/.436 with 20 doubles, seven triples, 13 homers, and 18 stolen bases, which earned him 2.1 bWAR. But his bat has not reached those levels since, and in parts of four seasons since 2021, Baddoo has hit just .201/.288/.323 in 682 plate appearances. He spent most of the 2025 season at Triple-A Toledo, where he had good numbers: he hit .281/.385/.483 with 15 home runs, 21 doubles, six triples, and 25 stolen bases in 29 tries.

In the field, Baddoo is primarily a left fielder but has played some in center and a little bit in right. Defensive metrics have graded him as about an average outfielder, but those samples are not large.

Milwaukee had one open spot on their 40-man roster, which Baddoo will fill.

It’s an interesting move. The Brewers could use an upgrade in the outfield, but their depth isn’t bad; between Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins, Isaac Collins, Garrett Mitchell, and (sort of) Christian Yelich, the Brewers have several viable major league options. Brandon Lockridge is also in the mix as a player at the line between Triple-A and the majors. Baddoo does not project to be much of an upgrade, and instead will slot in for more depth, but MLB at-bats might be hard to come by.

In unrelated free agent news of some interest to Milwaukee fans that broke about the same time, former Brewer Hoby Milner has signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, where he’ll reunite with his former Brewers manager.

Update: According to Curt Hogg, the Brewers have also added outfielder Greg Jones on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. Jones will be 28 in March and has appeared briefly in the majors over the past two seasons with the Rockies and White Sox. He was a fairly highly regarded prospect several years ago, appearing at No. 91 on Jonathan Mayo’s Top 100 prospect list prior to the 2022 season. He is likely to be merely added depth for the Brewers’ Triple-A squad.