Brewers trade Kolten Wong, reportedly to Mariners for Jesse Winker, Abraham Toro

© Dilip Vishwanat, Getty Images Kolten Wong of the Brewers reacts after being thrown out trying to steal second base against the Cardinals to end the third inning Wednesday night.

The Milwaukee Brewers couldn’t wait until baseball’s winter meetings to make a deal.

The team on Friday traded second baseman Kolten Wong to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for receive outfielder Jesse Winker and infielder Abraham Toro. The Brewers will also send cash back to the Mariners.

The Brewers exercised their $10 million team option on Wong on Nov. 8, but since then have made far more subtractions than additions to their roster with rightfielder Hunter Renfroe and right-hander Brad Boxberger the two other high-profile players to have moved on.

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With top infield prospect Brice Turang having just completed a strong season at Class AAA Nashville, the team feels comfortable turning the page on the 32-year-old Wong handing the reins off at second base to the 23-year-old who is yet to make his major-league debut.

Wong is coming off the two best offensive seasons of his career since signing with Milwaukee before the 2021 campaign and hit a career-high 15 home runs in 2022 with a three-homer game at Cincinnati in late September an individual highlight.

All told, Wong hit .262 with 29 homers and 97 RBI with a .776 OPS in 250 games with the Brewers.

But the two-time Gold Glove winner also graded out as one of the worst defensive second basemen in baseball last season by accounting for minus-nine outs above average while tying a career high by committing 17 errors.

In acquiring the left-handed-hitting Winker, 29, Milwaukee is adding an outfielder capable of playing at least the corner spots who is two seasons removed from his lone all-star nod while with the Cincinnati Reds.

Winker, who will make $8.25 million in 2023 in the second year of a two-year deal, is coming off a down season with the Mariners in which he hit .219 with 14 home runs and 53 runs batted in while compiling an OPS of .688 in a career-high 136 games.

He missed Seattle’s postseason run in October with a neck injury.

Winker gives the Brewers another experienced outfielder, lessening the need to rely upon top prospects like Sal Frelick, Esteury Ruiz and Joey Wiemer early in the season, and is a .344 hitter with a 1.032 OPS in 32 career games in Milwaukee.

Toro, who turns 26 on Dec. 20, has played a total of 262 games in the majors since 2019 and is a career .206 hitter with 26 homers, 99 RBI and an OPS of .621.

He can play everywhere but shortstop in the infield, is a switch-hitter and under team control until 2027 at a minimal salary.

This story will be updated later.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers trade Kolten Wong, cash to Mariners for Jesse Winker, Abraham Toro