Brewers Claim Speedy Outfielder From Athletics In Bid To Bolster Roster Depth

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dave Gasper | Last updated Jun 8, 2025 3:12 PM ET

The Milwaukee Brewers have made a roster move in the midst of Sunday's finale against the San Diego Padres. The team announced that they have claimed outfielder Drew Avans off waivers from the Athletics.

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was first to report the move.

The Brewers had an open 40 man roster spot following Tyler Alexander's DFA last week. That spot is now filled with Avans, who has been immediately optioned to Triple-A Nashville. Avans is a 28 year old speedy outfielder that just got his first taste of the big leagues this year with the Athletics.

While Avans' MLB debut did not go particularly well, getting just two hits in 15 ABs, he's put up some strong numbers in Triple-A. He's been at Triple-A since 2021, with most of those years coming in the Dodgers organization. He signed with the A's as a minor league free agent ahead of the 2025 season.

This year, Avans is hitting .328/.414/.444 with four homers, 16 stolen bases and 30 walks to 31 strikeouts.

Avans has stolen at least 20 bases in every season of his pro career except for one and his career high is 40 steals.

The Athletics DFAed Avans on Friday. The Brewers have been lacking some outfield depth since Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins have been on the IL most of the season. Daz Cameron has been the backup outfielder for Milwaukee and has just a .522 OPS since being called up.

They don't have many options in the upper minors to call upon, so Avans provides some additional depth. He's a left-handed hitter, so he makes for some redundancy as the Brewers have a bevy of lefty hitting outfielders. The Brewers also have MLB veteran Eddie Rosario down in Triple-A.

Perhaps Avans' speed and on-base ability will be able to translate if he's given some run in Milwaukee that he wasn't able to find with the Athletics.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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