Developed - Devin Williams to the Yankees for Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin

[MoreTrife]

1 minute ago, liveforoctober said:

.396 OBP at AAA last year for Durbin. Initial thoughts on the trade is we improved... is Durbin our new SS? I would hesitate to move Turang off of 2nd after being named the best defender in baseball.

Durbin is 5'6. Altuve like.

Carrrrefulll. 😉

[JosephC]

Why do the projections at Fangraphs have Cortes at <1 WAR for 2026 (Fangraphs DC = 0.5, Steamer = 0.8)?  Is he injured?  Was it likely he was heading to the bullpen in 2026?

[liveforoctober]

2 minutes ago, MoreTrife said:

Carrrrefulll. 😉

Sorry, didn't mean anything harmful. It just jumped at me when I looked at the profile page.

[Redd Vencher]

2 minutes ago, JosephC said:

Why do the projections at Fangraphs have Cortes at <1 WAR for 2026 (Fangraphs DC = 0.5, Steamer = 0.8)?  Is he injured?

They're projecting him as a RP. 56 G 3 GS.

[stoutdude04]

2 minutes ago, JosephC said:

Why do the projections at Fangraphs have Cortes at <1 WAR for 2026 (Fangraphs DC = 0.5, Steamer = 0.8)?  Is he injured?

Pretty sure he had a flexor strain at the end of last year.  Would stink if he's injured, obviously.

[Brewcrew82]

1 minute ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Many were upset with the return for Hader as well. Taylor Rogers flopped, Lamet was a nothingburger, but Gasser has shown real talent, and will hopefully make a full recovery from TJ. And of course Ruiz turned into Contreras and Payamps. 

Hader also had an extra .5 year of control as well.

I'm satisfied with the return. We needed some insurance in the rotation and Cortes is as solid as it gets. Durbin is the wild card, but have to like his fit on this team in terms of skillset. 

[torts]

 

[markedman5]

https://x.com/adammccalvy/status/1867624111264215307?s=61&t=6XPB8f4sAKmJIzxgMcsCjw

[duewizard]

Im ok with this. Would've liked more but this is fine. Rotation looks solid with Cortes.

The infield is interesting. Durbin has played some SS but looks more like a 3B or 2B. Do we move Turang (who has a plat glove), do we try Durbin at SS and Ortiz 3B or viceversa? Im guessing we'll see a mix of configurations in spring training.

 

[adambr2]

Nestor is already the best starter in our rotation not named Freddy Peralta.

Yeah, you’d wish there was more than 1 year of control here, but the player we gave up only had one year of control, so…

Devin will be missed, but I don’t know what more people were expecting for him.

[Redd Vencher]

---

In strict value terms, it's fine because Cortes is a valuable piece, but the Brewers have to be pretty high on Durbin, moreso than every prospect publication, for it to make sense. The point of moving Williams is to gain more control over talent, and they burnt most of the value not getting that.

[umphrey]

People online hate on Cortes a lot. I wonder why. I don’t know much beyond his stat sheet, where he looks like a very nice mid rotation piece. 
 

Based on that, this seems like a pretty reasonable trade. I am glad they added players that will help the 2025 team. 

[Brewcrew82]

FWIW, Yankees fans not big on losing Durbin. Apparently, Cashman said he was a candidate to replace Gleyber as the starting 2Bman. 

[sveumrules]

Last two years Durbin put up a 127 wRC+ over 697 PAs with an 11.3 BB% and 8.3 K%.

Also managed a .153 ISO over that stretch so there is some pop in there despite the stature.

67 SB / 12 CS so he's got some wheels too.

Defensively versatile I'd guess he is primarily 3B and playing 2B versus LHP.

Devin's max season was +4.06 WPA. Durbin should have no problem beating that value over the next six years, not to mention the one year of Cortes could do it too (5.3 rWAR in 2022).

[adambr2]

14 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Nestor is a middle of the rotation starter. Have you seen what the going rate for that is on the open market?

Durbin is an MLB ready prospect that we can add to the infield mix and who fits like a glove with the team-wide philosophy of getting on base and speed.

Bottom line is Devin had a single year of control as a reliever. Middle of the rotation starter>elite reliever. 

I pretty much agree on Nestor.

I’d hesitate to call any 24 year old prospect with 0 ABs at the MLB level “MLB ready”. We thought Tyler Black was MLB ready.

Durbin is a guy you can add to the mix on a wait and see basis and hope he carves out a role, but he may be absolutely nothing.

[wildcat2237]

I love high OBP infield prospects with speed and a glove, so I'm a big fan of Durbin. 

Very surprised he really didny show up on any prospects list. Maybe his big AFL performance had not yet factored in. 

Getting a mid-rotation starter to boot is also nice. 

[wildcat2237]

2 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Last two years Durbin put up a 127 wRC+ over 697 PAs with an 11.3 BB% and 8.3 K%.

Also managed a .153 ISO over that stretch so there is some pop in there despite the stature.

67 SB / 12 CS so he's got some wheels too.

Defensively versatile I'd guess he is primarily 3B and playing 2B versus LHP.

Devin's max season was +4.06 WPA. Durbin should have no problem beating that value over the next six years, not to mention the one year of Cortes could do it too (5.3 rWAR in 2022).

I think there is a very good shot Durbin is the starting 3b next year. The Brewers utilized Williams to fix the 3b hole. 

If Durbin is struggling mid-season, they you probably see Boeve or Wilkin get  a shot. 

[wildcat2237]

3 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

 

Durbin is a guy you can add to the mix on a wait and see basis and hope he carves out a role, but he may be absolutely nothing.

I highly doubt Durbin amounts to nothing.

The guy has speed, a glove, and elite OBP skills. If even some of the OBP skills translate then he is a useful piece. Yankees fans are not thrilled with losing him. 

[homer]

4 minutes ago, wildcat2237 said:

I highly doubt Durbin amounts to nothing.

The guy has speed, a glove, and elite OBP skills. If even some of the OBP skills translate then he is a useful piece. Yankees fans are not thrilled with losing him. 

I was surprised how good his AA/AAA numbers were.

 

[endaround]

Durbin's numbers are good but he is also old for every level.  Durbin had a wRC+ of 129 as a 24 year old in AAA which is fine.  For comparison Monasterio has a wRC+  of 121 as a 24 year old in AAA.

The real piece here is Cortes who the Yankees must have decided to move out their rotation for whatever reason.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Frelick, Mitchell, Perkins, Turang and now Durbin. It is obvious that the Brewers love uber-fast athletes. 

If anything, this is going to be a very exciting team to watch on the basepaths this year. This team will likely challenge the all-time Brewers SB record of 256 set in 1992 (also a very exciting team). For reference, they had 217 in 2024.

[Brewcrew82]

Just now, endaround said:

Durbin's numbers are good but he is also old for every level.  Durbin had a wRC+ of 129 as a 24 year old in AAA which is fine.  For comparison Monasterio has a wRC+  of 121 as a 24 year old in AAA.

The real piece here is Cortes who the Yankees must have decided to move out their rotation for whatever reason.

Fried probably squeezed him out. Cole, Fried, Rodon, Schmidt, Gil is their 5. 

[wildcat2237]

8 minutes ago, homer said:

I was surprised how good his AA/AAA numbers were.

 

The guy has a .404 minor league OBP (Elite). Add in speed, a good glove, and a tad bit of pop. I am just trying to figure out why the heck this guy was not on prospects lists. I guess because he has been a bit old for each level. 

He may not be a superstar, but I will take a Sal Frelick at 3b. Cheap, fast, good OBP. 

[Brewcrew82]

1 minute ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Frelick, Mitchell, Perkins, Turang and now Durbin. It is obvious that the Brewers love uber-fast athletes. 

If anything, this is going to be a very exciting team to watch on the basepaths this year. This team will likely challenge the all-time Brewers SB record of 256 set in 1992 (also a very exciting team). For reference, they had 217 in 2024.

It's definitely exciting to watch. 

I think the one remaining hole they have to address is to find a way to replace Adames' power in the lineup. At least with Durbin in tow they're not necessarily pigeonholed into trying to get it from the IF. 

[BallFour]

6 minutes ago, endaround said:

Durbin's numbers are good but he is also old for every level.  Durbin had a wRC+ of 129 as a 24 year old in AAA which is fine.  For comparison Monasterio has a wRC+  of 121 as a 24 year old in AAA.

The real piece here is Cortes who the Yankees must have decided to move out their rotation for whatever reason.

Monasterio had 1 sb a .411 babip and a 28.5 strikeout rate 

Durbin had 29 sb a .297 babip and a 9.9 strikeout rate

I get your point. to me ones wRC+ seems more translatable than the other.

Durbin in an ideal world would be Monasterio's replacement. Really hope its not going to be the Oliver Dunn and Caleb Durbin show at 3B.