The tear down of the Milwaukee Brewers continued on Friday with the trade of Gerardo Parra to the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles have been seeking outfield bats for over a month now and finally landed the versatile Parra in a deal with the Brewers. In exchange, the Brewers will receive starting pitcher Zach Davies. The Orioles are still rumored to be seeking more outfield help. Stay tuned here for more fantasy coverage of the MLB non-waiver trade deadline.

Why the Orioles make this trade

Zach Davies was not the highest rated arm on the Orioles prospect list. He was a part of their top 30 list on MLB.com and losing any arm hurts, but that is the price you pay for veterans in today’s game. Parra has been a fringe regular for several seasons, but is having a career year this season. His .328/.369/.517 slash is easily the best of his career and likely unsustainable. The Orioles are gambling that he can sustain that .372 BABIP for a couple more months. He will be a free agent after the season.

Parra can play all of the outfield positions and has been a dynamic force with the glove in the past. This year, he has measured slightly below average according to most sources, but we will likely see regression on both counts (offensively and defensively). Right field is his most natural position with his strong arm and solid range. With Adam Jones in center, the Orioles outfield got a lot stronger.

Why the Brewers make this trade

Minor league performances can often be deceiving, but Davies has been a solid performer every year since being drafted. He is 27-29 in four minor league seasons with a 3.47 ERA in 474 innings. He has a 5-6 record this season with a 2.84 ERA in the International League. He is still only 22 years old. He doesn’t have top of the rotation stuff, but he figures to be in line to compete for a spot near the bottom of their rotation. They got all this for a career fringe starting outfielder that will be a free agent. Obviously, he is not the kind of guy you extend a qualifying offer to, so he would have left for nothing following the season.

When the Brewers dealt Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to Houston, they signaled that they were going to be big time sellers at the deadline. Even if they don’t make another deal today, they now have five prospects they can add to their top thirty list for the rest of the season. I’m not a betting man, but I’d bet that the Brewers aren’t done dealing today.

What does this deal mean for you

Parra is likely owned in your league and not much is going to change for Parra owners because of this deal. Camden Yards is just about the same as Miller Park in terms of offensive production and the Orioles are a strong offensive team. Still, one can’t get over that .372 BABIP. No matter where he plays, he is a significant regression candidate. If I were a Parra owner, I would be shopping him to a team that doesn’t look at those kinds of numbers and thinks he’ll be better on a contender.