Royals Acquire Isaac Collins and Nick Mears from Brewers

[Seth Stohs]

Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Even with the travel week, the Royals front office continued to work, maybe forgetting to take the weekend off. Late on Saturday afternoon, the Royals sent enigmatic lefty reliever Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee Brewers. In return, the received right-handed reliever Nick Mears and utilityman Isaac Collins. 

Since debuting for the Royals in 2021, Zerpa has gained an increased role each season. In 2025, he pitched in 69 games and posted an ERA over 4.18. In 64 2/3 innings, he had 58 strikeouts and 22 walks. His stuff has always been impressive. In 2025, his fastballs (four-seam and sinker) both averaged over 96 mph. He threw a mid-80s slider that could be effective as well. Previously a neutral pitcher, Zerpa had a 62.5% groundball rate in 2025. Despite the impressive stuff, he has been worth a total of 0.6 fWAR over the past three seasons, half of that coming in 2025. 

In return, the Royals will get two seasons of team control of reliever Nick Mears. The 29-year-old right-hander originally signed as a non-drafted free agent with the Pirates in August of 2018. He didn't want to mess around in the minor leagues and made his debut for Pittsburgh in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. He pitched in 36 games for them through the 2022 season when he was DFAd. 

First he was claimed by the Rangers and DFAd. The Rockies claimed him and he posted a solid 3.72 ERA for Colorado in 2023. At the trade deadline in 2024, he joined the Brewers and struggled down the stretch. In 2025, he posted a 3.49 ERA over 63 appearances. In 56 2/3 innings, he had just 46 strikeouts (7.3 K/9) and a miniscule 13 walks (2.1 BB/9). With that number, he was able to keep his WHIP below 1.00. 

Mears's fastball averaged 95.4 mph is 2025. He also threw over 40% sliders, a good pitch in the mid-80s. He will also throw an occasional changeup. He has been worth 1.5 fWAR over the past three seasons including 0.5 f.WAR in 2025. 

Isaac Collins is certainly an interesting add for the Royals. A tremendous athlete, he was a Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball finalist in his senior season at Maple Grove (MN) High School. He went to Creighton for three seasons and became the ninth-round pick of the Rockies in 2019.

Things started out well for him in pro ball, and he earned a spring training invitation with them in 2022. Unfortunately, he struggled in Double-A, and after the season, he was surprisingly available in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft. The Brewers happily picked him and sent him back to Double-A for the 2023 season. He was much better. In 2024, he hit well in Triple-A and ended his season making his MLB debut and playing in 11 games for Milwaukee. They saw enough that he was included on their 2024 playoff roster. 

He had a strong spring training in 2025, and it was somewhat surprising that he made the Opening Day roster. He never went back down to the minors. His role varied throughout the season. Overall, he played in 130 games and hit .263/.368/.411 (.779) with 22 doubles, three triples, and nine home runs. He also stole 16 bases. 

Defensively, he played shortstop in high school. He played mostly second base at Creighton. In the low minors, he played mostly third base and second base, but as he moved up, he started to see more time in left field. In 2025, he played in 108 games in left field, eight in right field, two at third base and once at second base. He also started at DH in three games. He was called off the bench 20 times as a pinch hitter. 

A switch hitter, he hit fairly well from both sides but clearly had more success and twice as many opportunities right-handed. In 296 right-handed plate appearances, he hit .279/.389/.413 (.802) with 14 doubles, two triples, and five home runs. In 145 left-handed plate appearances, he hit .232/.324/.408 (.732) with eight doubles, a triple, and four home runs. 

All told, he was worth 2.4 fWAR in 2025 and finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. 

He will give the Royals a little versatility in their lineup and on their bench. With the signing of Lane Thomas on Friday, the Royals could use one or both of them to platoon with Jac Caglianone. 

---

What are your initial thoughts on the trade? The bullpen loses Angel Zerpa but gains Nick Mears, and while Zerpa appears to have more potential, Mears has probably been better in terms of performance. Is it close enough for you that when you add a versatile, athletic hitter like Isaac Collins, you think the Royals did well? 

View full article

[Hokius]

I cannot believe the Royals got an outfielder who hit better than Duran last year for only Angel Zerpa. 

 

And they replaced one enigmatic reliever with another at the same time! 

 

Fantastic trade for KC. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

8 minutes ago, Hokius said:

I cannot believe the Royals got an outfielder who hit better than Duran last year for only Angel Zerpa. 

And they replaced one enigmatic reliever with another at the same time! 

Fantastic trade for KC. 

I'd be cautious with expectations of Collins. He was out over his skis last season. He might be a good player going forward, but I don't feel 2025 was indicative of his talent level.

[RCT]

I’m with you Hokius!  Unbelievable move!  Some negative comments out there about being an old rookie and how he is due to regress but he played well in the minors at every level.  Just got called up late because Brewers have had a deep outfield.  His Savant page shows the OBP is real.  If he regresses some that’s fine.  His “late season fall off” is way over blown.  Collins is a good player that just got his shot late.  History is riddled with guys like that, just ask Yastrzemski!

[Kevin O'Brien]

On 12/13/2025 at 7:32 PM, Brock Beauchamp said:

I'd be cautious with expectations of Collins. He was out over his skis last season. He might be a good player going forward, but I don't feel 2025 was indicative of his talent level.

I get the "Collins is going to regress" argument. At the same time, no one is expecting him to be an All-Star, just better than what the Royals produced in the OF, which was worst in fWAR and wRC+ last year. 

Even if he regresses to his Steamer projections, Collins will be far better than what Rave, MJ, Isbel, and Renfroe produced last year. 

I also think that there's a lot of love for Zerpa for a guy who's been good, but still struggles to get whiffs and has a history of conditioning issues in the past. I think he's gotten over those (think that issue happened in his first couple of years), but that's something to be aware of on Milwaukee's end. While Milwaukee has a great pitching development team, the Royals are pretty good too and have put in a lot of the same work that Jack mentioned in his recent piece. It's not quite the Cal Eldred days lol.