Milwaukee Brewers Trade with Jays for OF Derek Fisher

The Milwaukee Brewers continue to make additions, and the most recent move came in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Derek Fisher, as first reported by Robert Murray of FanSided.

A short while later, Will Sammon of The Athletic would tweet out that the Brewers are sending back a player to be named later and cash.

Fisher was a former 37th overall pick by the Houston Astros in 2014 — the same Astros that David Stearns was a part of, so take that as you will — and before his big league debut in 2017, he was rated as a top-100 prospect.

Fisher found a lot of success in the minors, including a .289 batting average and an OPS of .899 over 1,053 plate appearances in Triple-A.

Unfortunately, that success hasn’t translated to the big league level. During his career that has spanned 458 plate appearances with Houston and Toronto, Fisher has a slash line of .194/.286/.376, totaling a .662 OPS and an OPS+ of 78—the league average is 100.

Fisher also has a very high strikeout rate, swinging and missing 35.8 percent of the time. On the flip side, he’s walked almost 11 percent of the time and has shown some good pop at the plate with 17 career home runs along with17 doubles or triples.

Additionally, Fisher has very good speed, ranking in the 92nd percentile in 2019, according to Baseball Savant.

After the move became official, Stearns had this to say about Fisher when talking with reporters:

"“This is a really physically gifted player,” Stearns said via MLB.com. “A tremendous athlete who has a tool combination that allows you to think that he can really contribute at the Major League level if he’s able to put it together and get the opportunity. There’s a reason why he was a highly regarded prospect.“"

Unlike many of Stearns’ acquisitions, Fisher does not have any minor league options remaining. Meaning that if he doesn’t make the roster out of Spring Training, he will have to be DFA’d.

Fisher is also joining a crowded Brewers’ outfield that already has their starters set with Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, and Avisail Garcia. The left-handed Fisher will be competing with Billy McKinney, Time Lopes, Corey Ray, and Tyrone Taylor for that fourth outfield spot.

As a defender, Fisher can play all three outfield positions, and overall during his relatively short career, he’s been an above-average fielder by DRS—although it’s worth noting that he’s been below average in center and right field.

As Stearns said, Fisher will have to come in and “compete” for a job. As a former top-100 prospect, there is some upside that Fisher brings to the table; now we wait and see if he can tap into some of that potential here in Milwaukee.