MLB Trade News: Brewers Send Mark Canha Back to the American League

Earlier this offseason, Mark Canha had signed a minor league deal to return to the Milwaukee Brewers for a second stint with the team. But that won't happen now, as the Brew Crew have just dealt the veteran outfielder to the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later.

The #Royals have acquired 1B/OF Mark Canha from the #Brewers, per @JonHeyman pic.twitter.com/PvlydZNBPC
— MLB Deadline News (@MLBDeadlineNews) March 22, 2025

The 36-year-old Canha played 50 games with the Brewers in 2023 after being acquired in a trade, and was a big contributor to their runaway National League Central division title.

But the Brewers traded him to the Detroit Tigers after that season and he was then dealt again during the 2024 season to the San Francisco Giants.

The Royals enter the 2025 season with a less-than-stellar outfield of MJ Melendez, Hunter Renfroe and Kyle Isbel, so Canha should provide some nice depth for them.

He did have an off-year in '24, with a .690 OPS that was the lowest mark of his career for a full season. He had consistently been a well above average hitter for the previous six seasons in the majors, and still owns an OPS+ of 113 over his 10 seasons.

Canha gets on base at a high rate, and has a career .349 on-base percentage, including a .344 mark last year and a .355 in 2023. He handles the strike zone well and very seldom whiffs. He's also an expert at working the hit-by-pitch. He led the majors twice in that category, in 2021 & 2022.

Canha began his career with seven seasons in Oakland with the Athletics, and has also played for the New York Mets in addition to the Tigers and Giants.