When comparing the Milwaukee Brewers to the Kansas City Royals this season, there’s no denying that the Brewers are in a much better spot competitively speaking. The NL Central powerhouses have looked like just that once again, holding the second-best record in baseball (64-39) behind only the back-to-back World Series champions in the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Royals have looked almost the complete opposite, holding the second-worst record in the American League at 43-62.
However, while they may not have World Series or even playoff ambitions like the Brewers currently have, what the Royals can claim victory over their fellow Midwest counterparts is their offseason trade which brought Isaac Collins to Kansas City. The Royals also landed impact an impact reliever in righty Nick Mears while the Brewers received only the now injured Angel Zerpa in return.
After a lackluster start to his Royals career, Collins has looked like an entirely new and refreshed hitter in the month of July, displaying that immense potential that drew Kansas City towards him in general. In 61 plate appearance across 18 games this month, Collins is slashing .309/.377/.582 with three homers, 10 RBI and a 162 wRC+. Simply put, he’s been their most valuable and impactful qualified bat this month.
For an outfield that’s been starving for production for years now, to have not only Jac Caglianone but also Isaac Collins burst onto the scene only makes the Royals competitive future in 2027 and beyond look even brighter – especially when consider the fact that he’s under team control until for four more years after 2026. It’s almost as if they’ve received a desirable trade deadline acquisition without having to give up anything extra.
Brewers would likely prefer to have Royals’ Isaac Collins right now
Now, this trade already looked like a Royals win, considering Zerpa underwent Tommy John surgery not long into his debut season with the Brewers. However, Collins’ surge, or frankly his arrival, with Kansas City has made him look like someone the Brewers could actually use at the moment.
Milwaukee’s outfield production isn’t bad by any means right now, but looks rather average with a 13th ranked bang-average 100 combined wRC+. Compared to their eighth ranked 109 wRC+ outfield output last season, they’ve taken a clear step back in that department – even if their record doesn’t show it.
And more specifically, while primarily a left fielder, Collins could’ve brought a spark to Milwaukee in right this year as a corner outfielder by trade. Right field has arguably been their worst position this season, with a collective a .229/.299/.342 slash line with a team-low .640 OPS at it. This likely has them looking to the trade market this summer for re-enforcements when they had the solution in their ranks in Collins this time last season.
At the end of the day, the Brewers have seemed to have won the battle in 2026, looking like a legitimate World Series threat once again, but the Royals may’ve won the trade war. They are the ones with a dynamic switch-hitting force for the next four-and-a-half seasons while the Brewers are left with a volatile bullpen arm that may never be the same force he was before going under the knife.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
