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FanSided Offseason Simulation: Phillies acquire OF prospect from Brewers

By John Town

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 13: An overall view of Citizens Bank Park during the game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Philadelphia Phillies on May 13, 2014 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 13: An overall view of Citizens Bank Park during the game between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Philadelphia Phillies on May 13, 2014 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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In the FanSided Offseason Simulation, the Phillies flipped Parker Bridwell from the Cesar Hernandez trade to the Brewers for outfield prospect Kyle Wren.

DISCLAIMER: This article is part of the FanSided MLB Offseason simulation and in no way reflects any real events.

The Phillies made their fourth trade of the FanSided MLB Winter Meetings late Tuesday night, acquiring outfield prospect Kyle Wren from the Brewers. In exchange, they traded pitcher Pakrer Bridwell, who Philadelphia acquired in the Cesar Hernandez trade from the Angels.

The Brewers reached out to the entire looking for rotation help, and at first the conversation centered around Vince Velasquez. It eventually extended to include many of the young starters from 2017 as well as Bridwell. Ultimately, Milwaukee liked Bridwell out of that group and offered up Wren in exchange.

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Wren joins Jahmai Jones as the second outfield prospect acquired by the Phils this offseason. He takes Bridwell’s spot on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster.

The Atlanta Braves drafted Wren in the eighth round of the 2013 draft, signing him to a $150,500 bonus. They traded him to the Brewers after the 2014 season.

Wren spent all of 2017 in Triple-A with the Brewers.

He had a solid offensive season, posting a .286/.364/.401 line with 62 runs batted in and 80 runs scored. Wren’s plate discpline was impressive with a 10.0 percent walk rate and 14.3 percent strikeout rate.

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Wren’s best asset is his speed, as he has stolen 172 bases in his five-year minor-league career. This year, he was 26-for-31 in stolen base attempts.

Wren shows a strong hit tool and has no issue putting the ball in play. However, he has little to no power at the plate, limiting his offensive ceiling. For what it’s worth, he hit a career-high five home runs this season, but even then that is well below-average power.

Defensively, Wren’s speed could make him a great center fielder, but he doesn’t have the arm to play the position well. He played mostly in left field this year.

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As a whole, Wren profiles a lot like former Phillie Ben Revere with plenty of speed and contact but little to no power and arm strength. Most evaluators see him as a fourth outfielder. He could get a chance to make the team as the fifth outfielder and Gabe Kapler’s go-to pinch-runner.

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