The Boston Red Sox on February 9 finally landed the infielder they spent all offseason searching for in Caleb Durbin. Boston pulled off a six-player trade with the Milwaukee Brewers to land the third baseman, but his MLB journey didn't begin in the Midwest.
The Atlanta Braves selected Durbin in the 14th round of the 2021 MLB Draft. After the 2022 campaign, the Braves traded him and fellow prospect Indigo Diaz to the New York Yankees in exchange for Lucas Luetge.
Durbin fared well in the minor leagues with the Yankees organization, rocketing up to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre just eight games into the 2024 campaign. He batted .287/.396/.471 with an .867 OPS over 82 games with the RailRiders, which caught the Brewers' attention.
Before the 2025 season, New York made a massive trade of then-prospect Durbin and starting pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. to the Brewers to land closer Devin Williams. That trade, famously, didn't work out the way the Yankees hoped.
Former Yankees prospect Caleb Durbin could be just the infield addition the Red Sox needed all winter
Williams had easily the worst season of his career with in New York. He posted a 4.79 ERA with 18 saves on 22 opportunities over 62 innings. The Yankees removed him from the closer spot after a horrendous first half of the season, but Williams never figured it out in pinstripes.
Meanwhile, Durbin had a great season. He batted .256/.334/.387 with a .721 OPS, flashed a keen eye at the plate (he clocked a 96th percentile whiff rate and 98th percentile strikeout rate) and placed third in National League Rookie of the Year voting.
The Red Sox will have a chance to help Durbin grow, potentially sticking it to their greatest rivals yet again. Boston has converted multiple former Yankee players into roster staples, such as Garrett Whitlock, Carlos Narváez and Aroldis Chapman. This year, they'll hope to follow a similar path with Durbin and Sonny Gray, another former Yankee they landed from the St. Louis Cardinals to sharpen up their rotation.
While Durbin isn't the pure power bat the Red Sox claimed they were coveting this offseason, he has a tendency to lift the ball on the pull side, which could play well in front of the Green Monster. He's also a league-average defender (making him a better option than Isaac Paredes in that category) and Boston's new focus on fielding could help shape him into just the player it needed all winter (subscription required).
Even without trading with the Yankees, the Red Sox have found a way to land yet another promising former player of theirs. Hopefully he falls in step with Boston and goes a long way toward filling the role Alex Bregman did last season.