The decision to trade for Caleb Durbin over a more powerful replacement for Alex Bregman left some Boston Red Sox fans wanting more. Still, there were reasons to like Durbin. Fresh off a third-place finish in National League Rookie of the Year voting, he was a cost-controlled option with potential. He brought solid contact skills, speed, and positional versatility to the table.
As an added bonus, he'd rub salt in the New York Yankees' wounds as their parting with him created a disastrous domino effect, first with Devin Williams imploding, and next with them having to go out and get Ryan McMahon when Durbin was right there and could have solved their third base issues.
However, that has not come to pass. In the early going, Durbin slumped, but at least he provided the Red Sox with some solid defense while they hoped that his bat would come around. Despite a brief moment when he came to life in the wake of Alex Cora's firing, Durbin has continued to disappoint.
The 26-year-old has struggled mentally under the weight of his seemingly endless slump. These days, he's been spending more time on the bench, as Boston tries to find answers.
Not only has Durbin been one of the absolute worst hitters in baseball, but he's also experienced the third-most precipitous drop-off in production by wRC+ from last year to this year, behind only Cal Raleigh and George Springer, falling from a 105 mark to a pitiful 34 wRC+ (as of May 26).
2025 vs 2026 wRC+ Fallers pic.twitter.com/ckeuzWLXQu
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) May 26, 2026
One has to wonder if and when the Red Sox will come to the conclusion that the Milwaukee Brewers simply got one over on them.
The Red Sox must be wondering why the Brewers gave up Caleb Durbin so easily
If it wasn't bad enough that Durbin has fallen flat, Kyle Harrison has moved on to Milwaukee and become mind-bogglingly good out of nowhere. The Brewers have a reputation for making savvy trades, but it's hard to imagine that even they thought Harrison would be this good.
But maybe they knew something about Durbin. After all, trading pre-arb players, especially ones coming off impressive Rookie of the Year finishes, isn't their usual M.O. It's even more curious that they'd make the move without a ready-made replacement already in their system.
In fact, they went out and had to sign 29-year-old Luis Rengifo to cover the hot corner after trading Durbin. They had to guarantee Rengifo $3.5 million to secure his services, which doesn't sound like a lot of money until you consider that it's nearly four-and-a-half times the $796,000 that Durbin will make this year.
If Rengifo was an upgrade for them, this transaction tree might make sense, but the former Los Angeles Angels infielder posted a 73 wRC+ last season and managed exactly 0.0 fWAR over 147 games. On paper, Durbin was the substantially better player.
That's what makes it feel like the Brewers were onto something and saw an opportunity to fleece the Red Sox. Durbin's slap-hitting approach was never going to light up his Savant page, so the answer likely isn't buried in that data. Instead, it simply seems that by being around Durbin day-in and day-out, the Brewers knew regression was coming, and took the opportunity to dump him on Boston.
Add us as a preferred source on Google